BA threatens to cut Heathrow flights over airport fee row

Saturday, 23 Nov, 2021 0

British Airways has issued London Heathrow bosses an ultimatum.

It threatened to cut flights from the airport if Heathrow implements its big fee hike.

Luis Gallego, chief of BA parent International Airlines Group told the Airlines 2021 conference in London it is ‘reconsidering use of Heathrow.’

"Hiking charges will not help. It will not attract demand – it will have the opposite effect. If the rise in landing charges goes ahead, I know IAG will not be alone in reconsidering our airlines’ use of Heathrow."

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) plans to allow the airport to lift the normal cap on the airport’s average charge per passenger by up to 76%.

This would mean a hike from the current £19.60 to between £24.50 and £34.40.

At the conference IATA chief Willie Walsh said the regulator risks ‘shooting everybody in the foot’ by allowing the fee hike.

"You can make a strong case that not only should airport charges not go up, but in fact I think you could argue that they could come down and Heathrow could continue to be fully financed," said Walsh.

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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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