Airport Coordination

What Airport Coordination does

Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) is the world's largest independent airport slot coordinator, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Staines-Upon-Thames, United Kingdom. The company provides Level 3 slot coordination, schedule facilitation and data collection services to 80 airports across the UK, Ireland, Central and Eastern Europe, the Gulf, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Its core product is the Online Coordination System (OCS) — a web-based portal operated in conjunction with PDC A/S — through which airlines submit slot requests, manage schedule changes and execute slot trades. The OCS sits alongside a customized version of what ACL describes as the world's leading slot management system, plus a separate Power BI-backed data visualization layer that delivers schedule, capacity and slot-utilization analytics to airports, airlines and aviation service providers.

ACL monetizes primarily through multi-year managed-services contracts secured via competitive tenders with airport operators and government authorities; ancillary revenue comes from unit-priced schedule data downloads (from under £300 per download) and bespoke consultancy and training engagements. The customer base is structurally enterprise: airports such as London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Dubai International, Sydney, Dublin, Manchester, Warsaw Chopin, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Auckland, Riga and the 26 Saudi airports under MATARAT Holding are anchor accounts. ACL also operates a wholly-owned Asia Pacific subsidiary (ACL Asia Pacific, established April 2025 in Sydney) and runs additional offices in Manchester, Auckland and Dubai, with the MATARAT, Sydney and Bucharest wins in 2022, 2025 and 2026 respectively signaling continued pipeline-driven geographic expansion.

Name

Airport Coordination

Legal name

Airport Coordination Limited

Website

https://acl-uk.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Airport Slot Coordination Services

NAICS

Airport Operations (48811), Other Airport Operations (488119)

SIC

Airports, Flying Fields & Airport Terminal Services (4581)

akta.pro primary industry

Flight Operations Control & Dispatch (OCC/IOCC) (THABAIAA)

Keywords

• Airport slot coordination
• Slot allocation services
• Airport schedule data
• Level 3 coordination
• Aviation consultancy

Headquarters

HQ city

Staines-upon-thames

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Airport Coordination Services: ACL provides slot coordination services to airports under multi-year contracts. As an independent coordinator, they charge airports for managing runway slot allocation, schedule facilitation, and capacity optimization services in compliance with EU Regulation 95/93 and IATA standards.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) is the world's largest independent airport slot coordinator, providing Level 3 airport slot allocation, schedule data services, and aviation consultancy to airport operators and airlines. The company manages runway slot coordination in compliance with EU Regulation 95/93 and IATA standards across 80 airports on four continents, supported by an Online Coordination System (OCS) portal.

Product overview

Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) is the world's largest independent airport slot coordinator operating a unified platform of coordination services. The core offering consists of five integrated services: Slot Coordination (the primary Level 3 airport coordination service), Data Solutions (schedule data distribution), Special Event Coordination, Online Coordination via the OCS Portal, and Consultancy and Training. These services work together to provide end-to-end airport capacity management, from initial slot allocation through data delivery to operational reporting. ACL's portfolio spans 80 airports globally, supported by offices in the UK, New Zealand, and UAE.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Slot Coordination ACL's primary service managing airport slot allocation at Level 3 coordinated airports, ensuring efficient use of capacity and fair access for airlines in compliance with EU Regulation 95/93 and IATA standards. Targeted at airport operators requiring independent slot coordination.
• Data Solutions Schedule data services providing complete, accurate and up-to-date airport schedules including slot times, destinations, seat numbers, aircraft types, and terminal codes for all types of operations including charter, business aviation, general aviation and freight traffic. Targeted at airports, airlines, and aviation industry service providers.
• Special Event Coordination Coordination services for special events requiring temporary adjustments to airport capacity or scheduling, such as major sporting events or concerts. Targeted at airport operators hosting large-scale special events.
• Online Coordination (OCS Portal) Web-based portal operated by PDC A/S for airlines and airports to manage slot requests, schedule changes, and coordination activities. Data can be delivered via SFTP, CSV, email or downloaded through the OCS online portal. Targeted at airlines and airports.
• Consultancy and Training Expert advisory services drawing on over 30 years of industry experience to help airports and airlines optimise capacity and scheduling. Targeted at airports and airlines seeking expert advisory support.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% total slot utilization achieved at Sydney Airport during NW25 season
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• MATARAT Holding (Saudi Arabia)majorOthers · 10 May 2022ACL International signed an agreement with MATARAT Holding to carry out coordination services at 26 airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This partnership significantly enhanced ACL's global position as the world's leading independent coordinator.
• NATS (National Air Traffic Services)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2020ACL collaborates with NATS through the Industry Resilience Group (IRG) to better plan for airspace congestion and summer operations. ACL provides detailed schedule data from UK and Republic of Ireland airports to NATS for combining with air traffic capability to identify airspace hotspots in advance. This partnership enables improved resilience against schedule changes and airspace congestion for the benefit of the entire aviation industry.
• Oman AirportsmajorOthers · 24 February 2020ACL signed a contract with Oman Airports to provide schedule facilitation at Muscat International Airport and data collection at Duqm, Marmul, Qarn Alam, Salalah and Suhar airports. The contract was won through competitive tender and began on 25 February 2020.
• IATA (International Air Transport Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACL operates in compliance with IATA standards and guidelines for slot coordination. The company implements Level 3 coordination in accordance with globally recognized IATA standards, ensuring interoperability with international aviation systems and regulatory frameworks.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves14 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• SITA: SITA is the dominant IT and communications infrastructure provider for airports and airlines worldwide, with portfolio offerings across operations, passenger processing, and data — the broad-incumbent counterpart to ACL's specialist slot coordination and schedule data position.
• Jeppesen (a Boeing Company): Jeppesen supplies flight planning, navigation data, operations, and scheduling tools to commercial aviation globally — overlapping with ACL's slot management and schedule data capabilities as part of Boeing's broader aviation services portfolio.

Others

• NATS (National Air Traffic Services): NATS is the UK's principal air navigation service provider and ACL's strategic Industry Resilience Group partner — comparable because it integrates ACL's schedule data into airspace flow management, representing the adjacent ANSP-side counterpart to ACL's airport-side coordination activity.
• ASSAEROPORTI / Italian airport coordination body: ASSAEROPORTI represents Italian airport operators and coordinates scheduling activity at Italian coordinated airports — relevant as the regional counterpart with which ACL would compete when Italian airports open up for coordination tenders.
• Flughafenkoordination Deutschland (FHKD): FHKD is Germany's national airport slot coordinator, performing the same Level 3 coordination function as ACL across German coordinated airports — a direct functional competitor on a national basis even though it does not compete globally.
• Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL): ACNL is the independent slot coordinator for Dutch airports, performing the same Level 3 coordination and data services as ACL in the Netherlands — a functional peer at the national level against which ACL competes for adjacent European tenders.

Regional players

• Eurocontrol: Eurocontrol is the pan-European air traffic management organization — operates as a regulator and central flow manager rather than as a slot coordinator, but materially defines the framework within which ACL and other independent coordinators operate across Europe.

Direct peers

• Cirium (a RELX business): Cirium supplies aviation data, schedules, and analytics to airlines, airports, and aviation service providers — directly overlapping with ACL's Data Solutions and slot analytics offerings. Both monetize proprietary schedule datasets to the same buyer personas across the global aviation ecosystem.
• OAG: OAG provides flight information, schedules, and aviation data intelligence to airlines, airports, OTAs, and consultancies — a directly comparable commercial offering to ACL's Data Solutions and consultancy lines, sold into the same customer ecosystem.

Emerging players

• FlightAware (a Collins Aerospace business): FlightAware provides real-time flight tracking and ADS-B data analytics to aviation operators, with growing overlap into schedule and operations data — a complementary emerging player serving some of the same aviation buyer personas ACL addresses via its Data Solutions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/airport-coordination-limited
• Xx.com/aclcoordination

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Airport Coordination