With Abra Group having agreed to lease up to seven Airbus A330-900, with deliveries starting in 2026, the group’s two scheduled airlines, avianca and GOL, have eyed additional slots at some of the busiest European airports.
According to records from slot coordinators, including Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) and NAV Portugal, GOL has requested slots at three European airports: Lisbon Airport (LIS), London Heathrow Airport (LHR), and Porto Airport (OPO).
avianca, which currently flies to four European airports, also requested additional slots at LHR, yet received none, keeping its current portfolio of movement allocations at the airport serving the British capital.
GOL adding European slots
While public access to initial slot allocations for many of Europe’s airports is limited, data from ACL and NAV Portugal indicate that GOL had requested slots to serve at least three European airports, LIS, LHR, and OPO, for the upcoming summer 2026 season.
According to ACL’s initial slot coordination report for the season, GOL had asked for 584 slots at LHR, yet received zero. Similarly, its request for 584 slots at LIS was not fulfilled, and so far, the Brazilian carrier remains without slots to operate from/to the Portuguese capital.
At OPO, GOL requested and was granted 292 slots.
avianca currently offers flights to Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN), LHR, Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). Some of these airports’ slot requests and allocations are not available publicly.
Still, if GOL were to ask for slots at any of those airports, it would have a fighting chance to obtain them. According to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG), “50% of the slots contained in the pool at initial slot allocation must be allocated to new entrant requests,” while the remainder would be allocated to non-new-entrant requests.
For example, the Spanish Association for the Coordination and Facilitation of Time Strips (Asociación Española para la Coordinación y Facilitación de Franjas Horarias), which coordinates slots across Spain, outlined that the first 50% of the unallocated slot pool goes to new entrants, with the remaining 50% going to changes to historic slots and other requests.
Rytis Beresnevicius
A330-900 deliveries in 2026
Abra Group confirmed that its airlines, avianca, GOL, or Wamos Air, will take delivery of A330-900 aircraft this year in October 2025. At the time, the group’s statement indicated that it would initially lease five A330-900s from Avolon.
The holding company also signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for the lease of two aircraft of the type with Avolon.
However, Abra Group stated that the A330-900s could be allocated to any airline within the group, “with the ownership and financial costs of the aircraft to be borne by the respective operator.”
“Fleet allocation will be determined by Abra, based on operational and financial needs, business opportunities, and the operational and financial situation of each company.”
According to the latest data from Aviation Flights Group, a site that tracks aircraft during their assembly process, no A330-900 with an avianca or GOL livery has been spotted just yet.
Rytis Beresnevicius
