Slot-controlled airport

An airport where takeoff and landing rights are allocated, traded and jealously held — Heathrow, Haneda, JFK, LaGuardia and the congested hubs of Europe and Asia. Slots explain premium-market structure: why frequencies are capped, why new competition arrives slowly, and why fares to slot-controlled cities hold firm while open markets discount. They also explain odd schedules — a carrier flying at awkward hours is often flying the slot it could get.