AirBridge Cargo (RU, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) has confirmed that it has lost slots at Amsterdam Schiphol airport, reports The Loadstar. The Russian freighter is now looking for alternative airports in Europe, most likely in Germany or Belgium.
"We are still in the process of negotiating the slots issue in Amsterdam but, regretfully, we can admit that ABC will definitely lose some of its current slots in Schiphol," AirBridge Cargo told The Loadstar.
The freighter carrier has apparently fallen foul of the 80:20 rule, meaning it did not fly at least 80% of its flights as scheduled. This would normally be negotiable, but Schiphol has reached its 500,000 a year slot capacity, meaning it is operating under constraint. This rule obviously presents a problem to cargo companies which frequently need to adjust their schedules based on supply chain and logistics.
"There are fewer slots for freight flights available, while the slots for passenger flights increase sharply," an FNV member said. "So the freight traffic has to divert to Maastricht or Belgium, and then we are left without work."
Article
https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news ... ternatives
I wasn't aware AMS was that constraint. Time to expand, no?