An airport coordinator/facilitator is responsible for managing capacity in congested airports. Coordinators/Facilitators can be structured to manage capacity in a single airport, or across several airports.
Coordination Type: Level1/Level 2/Level 3 Airport Categories
For the purposes of schedule clearance, there are three broad categories of airport:
- Level 1 describes those airports whose capacities are adequate to meet the demands of users. Such airports are recognised from a schedule clearance viewpoint as non-coordinated.
- Level 2 describes airports where the demand is approaching capacity and a more formal level of co-operation is required to avoid reaching, if at all possible, an over-capacity situation. These airports are referred to as schedules-facilitated.
- Level 3 describes those airports where demand exceeds capacity during the relevant period and it is impossible to resolve the problem through voluntary co-operation between airlines and where, after consultation with all the parties involved, there are no possibilities of resolving the serious problems in the short term. In this scenario, formal procedures need to be implemented at the airport to allocate available capacity and coordinate schedules. Airports with such high levels of congestion are referred to as coordinated.
The designated level of an airport will be reviewed by IATA management after receipt of valid justification and explanation by the appropriate airport managing body and then distributed by IATA to the airlines affected.
For the purpose of maintaining an up-to-date list of the status of all airports any change of level must be notified to IATA using the Notification of Airport Level Change Form in Annex 5 of the Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines (WSG).
Full description of Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 airports can be found in section 3, 4 and 5 of the WSG (pdf).
The list of Level 2 and Level 3 airports can be found in Annex 3 of the WSG (pdf).
Coordinator Appointment
The appropriate authority should appoint a coordinator following consultations with the airport managing body, the airlines that use the airport regularly and their representative organisations.
- The person appointed must act independently of any interested party. Previous airline scheduling knowledge and/or coordination experience is highly desirable.
- Coordinators must have sufficient time and resources to provide coordination services in accordance with these guidelines.
- If a country has more than one Level 3 airport, there may be cost-saving benefits if one coordinator or coordination organisation deals with all such airports. IATA favours central coordination.
Complete information about Facilitator/Coordinator role and appointment can be found in section 4 and 5 of the WSG (pdf).
Key Coordination tasks:
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Allocate slots to airlines
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Inform airlines of available and declared capacity
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Monitor and feed back to aircraft operators and to the airport managing body data on the actual use of slots allocated
Coordinators' Contacts
Contact list (xls) of Level 2 and Level 3 airports including Coordinators’ Websites
Training for Coordination Tasks and Procedures
The following courses delivered by IATA is intended for both airline slot managers and airport coordinators/facilitators:
1- Introductory training is in scheduling and airport slot coordination.
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Key topics include:
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Introduction to the WSG
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European Economic Community Regulation
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Introduction to Standard Schedules Information Manual (SSIM)
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SSIM Chapter 6 – Message format
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Roles involved in the slot coordination process
2 -Advanced training is in scheduling and airport slot management.
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Key topics include:
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Basics of terminal capacity analysis
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Slot monitoring criteria
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Calculation of the "Use it or Lose it" rule and creating the SHL
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Processing initial submissions and the allocation of slots based on priority
Coordinators' Association
- The European Union - Airport Coordinators Association (EUACA) is the trade association of Europe’s coordinators
- Level 3 airport coordinators can be members of the Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG)
Special Coordination Procedures
Special airport coordination procedures can be implemented for specific events and can be found on SkedLink.