Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) has sold its daily slot pair at London Heathrow for NZD42 million New Zealand dollars (USD26.4 million) as it moves ahead with its plan to terminate services to the British gateway and Europe as a whole.
"In October 2019, Air New Zealand announced its withdrawal from the London-Los Angeles International route with effect from October 2020. Proceeds from the sale of the London Heathrow slots were received in December 2019," it said in its interim 1H FY2019/20 statement.
According to the carrier, it expects to register a gain on sale of NZD21 million (USD13.2 million) during the second half of the 2019/20 financial year (i.e. January 1-June 30, 2020) while a further NZD21 million gain on sale is expected to be recognised for the year ended June 30, 2021.
Although the name of the buyer was not disclosed, the time slot swaps will be formally registered with Airport Coordination Ltd (ACL) in June and November this year. During the current Winter 2019/20 season, Air New Zealand's flights land at Heathrow at 1050L and depart at 1520L, the ch-aviation schedules module shows.
The transaction was finalised before the UK's Court of Appeal blocked the construction of a third runway at Heathrow over the government's failure to take into account the new track's overall environmental impact. Without the third runway, Heathrow's growth potential in the coming decades will be severely compromised.
