Air France-KLM merger – Slot Release Procedure for IATA Winter 2017-18 Season

On 11 February 2004, the European Commission adopted a Decision adopted by the Commission under Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation in relation to the merger between Air France and KLM (the “Merged Entity”). The Decision made the Commitments offered by the Merged Entity legally binding in case COMP M.3280.

Under the Commitments, the Merged Entity offered to make landing and take-off slots on Identified Long-Haul City Pairs (Paris-Detroit, Amsterdam-Atlanta, Paris-Lagos, Amsterdam-Lagos) and on Identified European City Pairs (see below) to enable competing airlines to operate a daily service on these routes.

For avoidance of doubt, only the text of the Commitments as adopted by the Commission will be the reference text.

Applications for slots for IATA Winter 2017-18 Season

Smith & Williamson LLP has been appointed by the European Commission as the Monitoring Trustee to monitor the implementation of commitments given by the Merged Entity.

Following an assessment of the Identified City Pairs under these Commitments, the Monitoring Trustee is inviting applications for slots for the IATA Winter 2017-18 Season on the following routes:

Long-Haul City Pairs*
• Paris –  Detroit: one (1) frequency per day (min. 6 slots / max. 7 slots per week);
• Amsterdam – Atlanta: one (1) frequency per day (min. 6 slots / max. 7 slots per week);
• Paris – Lagos: one (1) frequency per day (min. 6 slots / max. 7 slots per week); and
• Amsterdam – Lagos: one (1) frequency per day (min. 6 slots / max. 7 slots per week).

European City Pairs **
• Paris –  Amsterdam: up to 42 frequencies per week / up to 6 frequencies per day;
• Lyon – Amsterdam: up to 18 frequencies per week / up to 3 frequencies per day;
• Marseille –  Amsterdam: up to 14 frequencies per week / up to 2 frequencies per day;
• Toulouse –  Amsterdam: up to 14 frequencies per week / up to 2 frequencies per day; and
• Bordeaux – Amsterdam: up to 12 frequencies per week / up to 2 frequencies per day.

(* Please note that, as explicitly mentioned in the Definitions section of the commitments in Case AT.39964 AF-KL-DL-AZ,  the slot commitment for the Amsterdam-New York route in Case M.3280 is superseded by the commitments in Case AT.39964 for the duration of the AT.39964 commitments to 12 May 2025.  Applicants for slots on the Amsterdam-New York route in the period up to 12 May 2025 are advised to refer to this link.)

(**on some routes in the IATA Summer Season there may be a lower number of available slots under the Commitments.)

Airlines who wish to apply for slots on these routes must follow the procedure set out on the Monitoring Trustee’s dedicated website, available here:

http://smithandwilliamson.com/case-compm3280-air-france-klm

Published: 20 April 2017