Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has sold off two London Heathrow slot pairings to Emirates (EK, Dubai International) and Oman Air (WY, Muscat) with the latter paying USD75 million the Sunday Times has reported. The cost of the former's acquisition was not disclosed but was said to be lower than that of the Omanis.
As such, Oman Air will use the allocated arrival time - 05h30L - to add a second daily service from Muscat to the British capital while Emirates will use its slot to add a sixth daily Heathrow service from Dubai International with arrival slated for 16h10L.
In a related development, struggling Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) is reportedly planning to enter a sale and lease back agreement with equity partner KLM over its sole London Heathrow slot. The move is aimed at generating much needed cash for the Kenyan national carrier but risks veto from a government which is already weary of management and its relationship with the Dutch airline.
Over the past year or so, Air France-KLM has sold off several Heathrow slot pairings the largest of which was to Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson). The US carrier acquired six slot pairs it had been leasing from the Franco-Dutch carrier as part of their transatlantic joint venture. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
