Sydney Airport is set to undergo significant changes in how flights are scheduled and how access to slots is granted, as allegations of "slot hoarding" by Qantas and Virgin have raised concerns about competition. The slot system, currently managed by a company owned by the two airlines, has come under scrutiny for allegedly favoring Qantas and Virgin by granting them access to desirable time slots even when they do not have flights scheduled to operate in them.
The move to open a tender for the management of slot allocation reflects a broader effort by the government to address issues of transparency and competition in the airline industry. Calls for reform have been amplified by the collapse of airlines such as Bonza and Rex, with critics accusing the government of allowing these failures to occur without prior intervention. The ongoing debate around slot hoarding has drawn attention to the complexities of managing limited peak time slots at congested airports like Sydney's Kingsford Smith.