Dissertation
Flexing the Slot Regime
On 16 December 2021, Lisanne van Houten defended the thesis 'Flexing the Slot Regime'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P. Mendes de Leon and Prof. L. Pierallini (Luiss University Of Rome).
- Author
- Lisanne van Houten
- Date
- 16 December 2021
- Links
- Leiden Repository
In essence, airport slots are planning tools for the rationing of capacity at airports where available capacity falls short of air travel demand. Since the availability of slots is directly connected to the capacity of an airport at a particular date and time, a slot is by definition a scarce resource. The extent of. Slot scarcity depends on the congestion level of an airport. Excess demand for slots has substantial implications for airlines, coordinators and airports alike, as well as for society as a whole. This dissertation is designed to explore the compatibility of the global and specific legal regimes governing airport slot coordination with the particular socio-economic challenges that international organizations, governments and air transport industry stakeholders are experiencing today. A multitude of socio-economic objectives are identified, including but not limited to the environment in terms of noise and carbon reduction policies, growing airport access issues and general debates on airport functions to society. The number of so-called 'super-congested' airports in terms of the full slot capacity being historically 'occupied' by incumbent carriers are on the rise and are carefully studied from a policy and legal point of view.