News: Airlines slam cost of Gatwick improvements
Flights > News > # 2171 (28/05/2009)
Airlines have warned the £1 billion cost of improvements at London Gatwick will end up being passed on to passengers.
Work scheduled for the site includes the construction of a new £200 million aircraft pier in the North Terminal, as well as upgrades to various other facilities.
But according to the Airline Operators Committee (AOC) – whose member carriers include the likes of BA, Easyjet and Ryanair – the cost cannot be justified and the plans should be scrapped.
In a letter to Gatwick owners BAA, Easyjet accused them of embarking on an "unproven" business case with an "extraordinarily high" price tag.
The no-frills airline said that the proposed development amounted to little more than "tinkering at the edges," and was ill suited to the current economic climate.
But BAA defended its expansion plans, stating that all affected airlines had been involved in the negotiation process and knew about the cost for some time.
A BAA spokesman said: "The agreement is between us and the airlines.
"How the airlines then pass that on to their passengers is a question for them."
Gatwick Airport has suffered a 12 per cent drop in passenger numbers so far this year, reflecting a wider downturn in the industry brought about by the credit crunch.
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