Landing early before slot time
If an aircraft lands at a slot controlled airport (eg Gatwick) more than about 20 mins before its target slot time, various people like ACL start to get annoyed and eventually fines are issued if this happens repeatedly
I can understand that abuse of slot times at Heathrow in peak times in 2019 would not have been a good idea. However, with airports running at significantly reduced usage currently, there is presumably a lot more slack in the system. About a week ago, I flew from an empty beach airport in Europe to Gatwick at lunchtime - doors were closed over 35 mins (yes, really) before scheduled departure time, captain verbally acknowledged on PA that everything was in order, but there was still a 20+ min delay before pushback / engine start... the aircraft reached its stand 15 mins before scheduled arrival time
Would contacting ATC and asking for advance permission to arrive even earlier likely have been possible and sufficient, or would there be a whole series of consents to gain making it not worth the trouble involved ? Do some airline ops departments clamp down on early arrivals ? The weather was average and no particular visibility concerns or rain. With Gatwick so underused right now, I have difficulty believing the runway or terminal couldn't handle early arrivals.
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 23rd Oct 2021 at 01:30.