It’s not just budget airlines that want a fee for everything; sometimes it’s airports. A coalition of UK airlines is upset because the Civil Aviation Authority has just allowed London Heathrow to raise its general passenger fee by 53%, on top of a new ‘airport cost recovery fee’ and a £5 charge for dropping off passengers at the airport.
Airlines UK, representing most airlines and some of its members, including British Air, the main carrier at the airport, are demanding the approval be pulled back, saying the new fee level, to take effect in January, will only drive business away from Heathrow and benefit European hubs such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris.
Heathrow has usually been Europe’s busiest hub airport, but over the period of the pandemic it has fallen to fifth place, losing about 40% of its business at points. But British Air head Luis Gallego, says it’s a bad plan because “Heathrow is already the world’s most expensive hub airport. The disproportionate increase compared to other European hubs will undermine its competitiveness even further and UK consumers will be losing out.”
The increase in January would be interim; by summer CAA is scheduled to set a rate for the next five years.
