France’s DGAC civil aviation authority has imposed slot coordination at Cannes-Mandelieu Airport in the south of France beginning May 23 under a trial period that will run through the end of October. According to Umberto Vallino, the airport’s customer service manager, Cannes is the first dedicated business aviation airport in Europe to be subject to mandatory arrival and departure slots. While slots are commonly required by business aircraft operators using Europe’s busier air transport gateways, they have not previously been imposed at airports like Cannes where there is no airline traffic.
Slot coordination has been introduced at Cannes by the civil aviation authority, which argues that its air traffic controllers cannot handle the volume of traffic around Cannes and nearby Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport (where slots are also now required). Vallino expressed frustration at the move, which he said is caused by inefficiency on the part of air traffic control providers.
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