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Break-up would be ‘distracting’, says BAA director
A break-up of the seven UK airports operated by BAA would be distracting at this time, strategy director Mike Forster told delegates at WTM.
He said the airports, particularly those in London, needed to stay together as a group to win back the UK’s competitiveness against European hub rivals.
“The challenge now is to get extra capacity,” he said.
“Heathrow is designed for 40-50 million passengers and is now handling 67 million. We need the group to stay together to address the issues we need to address. We don’t want to be distracted by a break-up.”
He also denied reports that BAA’s Spanish owner, Ferrovial, would be forced to sell off some of its UK airport operations to reduce its debt.
Responding to criticism of security and maintenance problems at Heathrow, Forster said research has shown passengers would be happy to pay higher charges for better facilities.
“This summer has told us that it is time for a review of where we invest and the balance between facilities and charges,” he said.
“Passengers are prepared to pay more for better facilities. It hasn’t been good enough. It’s time to pause for reflection.”
He said investment is being made in security measures which mean that within six months, 95% of passengers would pass through security in less than five minutes and 99% in under 15 minutes.
by Bev Fearis
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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