About us
Brief history
The increasing imbalance between the demand for air transport and the current capacity of airports, despite the various economic cycles, has led to the application of internationally agreed measures and the development of slot coordination as an efficient way to allocate the scarce resources of airports.
This activity first appeared in the 1960s when periods of congestion began to arise in the main airports, and airlines needed to adjust their schedules in order to reduce delays to an acceptable level.
The International Air Transport Association, IATA, introduced initially this activity by establishing local slot coordination offices at airports when necessary, usually under the control of the corresponding national carrier. The publication of recommended procedures and allocation priorities began in 1976.
In the European Union countries, it was not until the 1990s, with the publication of EEC Regulation No 95/93 in 1993, that the legal basis for this activity would be established for EU airports, and independent bodies then began to work in slot coordination in each country.
In Spain, the Public Business Entity Aena was appointed as the Slot Coordinator and Schedules Facilitator for the Spanish airports by the Ministry of Development and carried out this activity in the period 1993-2014 through its Slot Coordination Office.
Since 15th September 2014, AECFA (Asociación Española para la Coordinación y Facilitación de Franjas Horarias) provides this service for the Spanish airports after being appointed as the Slot Coordinator and Schedules Facilitator by the Ministry of Development (Order FOM/1050/2014, of 17 June). Nowadays, AECFA is responsible for the slot coordination at 13 Spanish airports (Coordinated airports) and for the schedules facilitation in further 14 Spanish airports (Schedules Facilitated airports), according to the list of designated airports that is included in Royal Decree 20/2014, of 17 January (see the Library section).
As the Slot Coordinator and Schedules Facilitator, AECFA is a member of the European Airport Coordinators Association (EUACA) and the Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG).
Published on 26 April 2010 at 9:05 AM