Heathrow has seen some strange aircraft operations. In 2005, Qantas paid for a small regional jet to fly from the London airport to Manchester each morning, sit on the ground all day and return each evening. Ostensibly it carried a handful of passengers. The main aim: to protect precious slots, those permissions to take off and land at specific times.
Two years later, British Mediterranean flew empty jets between Heathrow and Cardiff six times a week. Under the “use them or lose them” policy for slots, there is no penalty for such wasteful behaviour. Indeed, it is rewarded under the rules by allowing the airline to keep the slots.
