Until now, airlines that wanted to offer their services from Cologne/Bonn did not have to apply for take-off and landing rights (slots). That has now changed because the airport has been upgraded to level 3.

In Germany, the slots in Hanover, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt am Main are currently being allocated by the coordinator. New to this list is Cologne/Bonn Airport, which is in high demand among airlines this year. Airlines have to apply for slots, which the coordinator then allocates according to specified criteria.

The German specialist portal Aero.de first reported on this change in Cologne/Bonn. The German Federal Ministry of Transport issued a notice on October 4, 2023 declaring the CGN to be coordinated for the entire operating period. Such measures are taken when take-off and landing rights become scarce, i.e. more airlines are interested in flights from an airport than there are slots available.

This change will initially have no impact on existing offers. These are grandfathered within the slot guidelines. However, providers must also observe the “use it or lose it” rule. In the future, new offers must be made via the slot coordinator.