Legal Conditions and the Allocation of Slots at Polish Airports

The ever-growing imbalance between the demand for air transport and the availability of suitable airport infrastructure to meet this demand has made it necessary to establish rules governing the allocation of slots to air carriers at congested airports. Slots are allocated to ensure the efficient use of airport infrastructure and to maximise benefits for airlines and their passengers. The first part of the article examines the global guidelines in this area that are published periodically by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A detailed analysis of the European Union (EU) aviation legislation that regulates access to airports which have insufficient runway and terminal infrastructure capacity then follows. The last part of this study is devoted to discussing legal and practical aspects of slot allocation at Polish airports. The results of the conducted analyses are presented in the summary and conclusions