News: Airlines fuming over charges increase
Flights > News > # 1721 (14/03/2008)
Airlines have responded angrily to the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) announcement that landing charges will increase at Heathrow and Gatwick over the next five years.
The CAA said that airport operator BAA, which runs Heathrow and Gatwick, would be raising prices at the two airports, with both first-year increases larger than the regulator had outlined in a draft proposal released in November.
Price caps have been set for the five years from April 1, which could see charges per passenger at Heathrow rise by 23.5 per cent above the retail price index (RPI) to £12.80 in 2008/09. This increase is set to be followed by a further rise over the following four years to 7.5 per cent above RPI.
Charges are also set to rise by 21 per cent this year at Gatwick, and then by a further two per cent over the next four years.
In response to the news, four of the largest airlines operating from the UK took the unprecedented step of joining forces to call for a fundamental overhaul in how Britain's biggest airports are regulated.
Bmi, Easyjet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic have described the CAA as “outdated” and accused the body of failing to fulfil its statutory duties. In a statement, they added that the CAA had “skewed decisions in favour of BAA and to the detriment of the airlines and the travelling public”.
Claims have been made that the CAA has decided to rescue the debt-ridden new owner of BAA, a consortium which is 61 per cent-controlled by Spanish construction company Grupo Ferrovial.
Regional airline Flybe has also criticised the regulator and called for the break-up of the BAA monopoly and the replacement of the CAA.
Commenting on the increases, Flybe chief commercial officer Mike Rutter said: “We always knew that the CAA cared little about the UK regions but this announcement proves it, as they reward BAA for years of failure and profligacy with a fat cat rise.
“We call on the Competition Commission to break up BAA, an organisation now owned by a debt-ridden company who clearly have no interest in the well-being of the UK economy. It is also time for (transport secretary) Ruth Kelly to urgently review the position of the CAA in regulating aviation and to overturn the CAA ruling in the same way as they recently did in Stansted.”
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