Heathrow chief says fares row no good for either side of debate
DESPITE a very public feud between airlines and Heathrow over the airport’s passenger fees, the airport’s boss has told City PM that co-operation will see both sides come out stronger.
“The best way through this actually is to work with airlines to recover as fast as we can,” John Holland-Kaye said.
The airport and carriers such as BA-owner IAG and Virgin Atlantic have been locked in a public battle over the fees charged by Heathrow per passenger, with a Civil Aviation Authority decision in mid-December setting the cap at a price satisfying neither side.
From 1 January Heathrow’s airline passengers will be charged up to £30.19 per customer, up from £19.60. Heathrow’s management had pushed for the cap to be as high as £43 and said they were “extremely disappointed” with the decision, whilst carriers squealed the hit was too harsh.
Holland-Kaye told City PM that after the ruling there was a chance for both sides to move forward.
“As an airport we have a huge infrastructure – £17bn worth of assets – that we need to maintain and keep running even when very few people are flying,” he said. “And if there are very few passengers then unfortunately the cost per passenger is higher than it would otherwise be.”
Passenger numbers are still a long way from pre-pandemic levels at the UK’s only hub airport.
Whilst year-on-year numbers in January looked positive, with four times the number of passengers this year than last, the 2.6m travellers who passed through Heathrow in January was down some 56 per cent on equivalent levels in 2020.
“We haven’t seen any increase in passengers as yet as we’re still living with the impact of Omicron,” Holland-Kaye continued.
Testing restrictions were finally removed for passengers arriving in the UK last Friday, which Holland-Kaye described as a “ray of hope” for a beleaguered travel industry.