Local Guidelines

Applicable as of June 1st, 2022.

General

Air carriers operating flights to/from Bratislava/M. R. Štefánik Airport (BTS) must provide information on all planned operations to the Slot Coordination Office. Deadlines for data submission are specified in the Calendar of Coordination Activities of the IATA Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG).

Air carriers must also provide information on all additional operations (ferry, delivery, demo, technical and training flights) in accordance with these Local Guidelines.

The role of the Slot Coordination Office is to collect data on planned operations and to process schedule requests and adjustments to avoid exceeding declared coordination parameters.

Procedure for Slot Requests

All Slot requests must be submitted to [email protected].

Slot requests must be submitted in strict compliance with IATA SSIM Chapter 6 provisions. SCR messages will be accepted in accordance with the applicable SMA procedures.

Departure slots must be secured at least 60 minutes prior to operation; arrival slots must be secured prior to the aircraft departing from its point of origin.

Slot requests are processed during office hours only. Air carriers are therefore encouraged to submit their requests well in advance. Urgent requests outside of office hours must be kept to a minimum and sent to [email protected].

Slot requests for ad-hoc operations will be processed after the Historics Baseline Date (HBD) for the respective IATA scheduling Season.

Slot Tolerances

Air carriers are expected to operate in accordance with the timings mutually agreed on with the Slot Coordination Office.

Intentional off-slot operations will be considered as non-compliance with agreed airport slots and may result in reduced handling priority. Bratislava/M. R. Štefánik Airport operator is not responsible for any delays that might arise in such cases.

Re-Clearing Airport Slots

a) Operational Delays

• Commercial services (passenger or freight) must not re-clear slots in the event of same-day operational delays. Slot data are used to update the airport´s flight information displays and operational systems. Rescheduling a delayed passenger service may cause confusion as the new slot time would not match the ticket times.
   

  Such services must re-clear airport slots with the Slot Coordination Office following operational delays of more than 3 hours and crossing the date line.

• Ad hoc non-commercial services (ferry, delivery, demo, training, technical tests and stops) must re-clear slots with Slot Coordination Office following operational delays of more than 3 hours.
  
  This does not permit intentional off-slot operations within the 3-hour window.

b) Early Operations

• Air carriers intending to operate earlier than the allocated slot time (arrival and/or departure) must re-clear airport slots.
  
  Early arrivals for operational reasons (e.g. due to unexpected winds) do not require re-clearing. This does not permit intentional deviation from the agreed slot times.

Flight cancellations

Air carriers must notify the Slot Coordination Office of flight cancellations as soon as possible. Late cancellations will be recorded as a slot misuse unless justified in accordance with IATA WASG provisions.

Special operations

For the following types of operations, operators must apply for a slot in advance; however, these flights will not be regulated:

• State Flights (Service Type „E“)
• Diplomatic Flights (Service Type „I“)
• Military Flights (Service Type „W“)

Exemptions

The following flights are exempt from slot coordination (no slot request required):

• Emergency landings and diversions
• Quick returns after take-off from Bratislava/M. R. Štefánik airport
• Humanitarian flights (Medical Emergencies, Donor Flights, Search and Rescue, Air Ambulance)
• Transport Authority flights
• Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic flights
• General Aviation and Business Aviation flights operated by A/C with MTOM of less than 4000 kg
• Training Flights of approved Flight Training Organizations (FTO)

Slot Monitoring

Slots usage is monitored in accordance with IATA WSAG and WWACG Slot Performance Monitoring Guidelines against the following misuse:

• Operations at a time different than the allocated slot,
• Slot held but not operated,
• Operations without an allocated slot,
• Use of a slot in a different manner than allocated (e.g. use of a different a/c type).

Applicability

These Local Guidelines are applicable from the date stated above. The Slot Coordination Office reserves the right to change these Local Guidelines without prior notice at any time.