The Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA) has accused Heathrow Airport of “yet more exploitation” of travellers in response to its plans to increase its domestic passenger charge by up to £7.
The SPAA says it is seeking “further review” from the airport over the April levy hike which Heathrow, owned by operator BAA, says would bring it into line with the amount paid by passengers departing from other EU destinations.
BAA’s planned charges, which are being introduced from April 1, will see the rate increase from £13.43 to £20.25 per passenger.
SPAA president Brian Potter said: “Regardless of the source of any such additional charges, the ultimate result remains the same – further pressure on already challenged business travel budgets, and an inevitable reduction in demand for the UK domestic air services which are vital to the nation’s economic health.
“Many passengers travel on split-journey tickets to get the best air fare savings, and these passengers will end up paying increased airport charges twice, when they already pay double APD.
“Heathrow Airport seeks to be the main UK transfer hub (an objective already damaged by lack of runway space), and these additional charges will not help, but rather give passengers another reason to think of using alternatives such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Paris."
Potter goes on to say that while the SPAA is in favour of a per plane levy replacing APD, he and the association are “firmly opposed to the prospect of yet more exploitation of beleaguered air passengers in the UK, and particularly the regions, in the form of ever-increasing taxes and charges.”
He added: “‘We are looking for a re-think from our colleagues at Heathrow, not least on how they might spread these costs across other areas of operation.
“UK domestic passengers do not use the same level of immigration and customs services as international passengers, so it is deeply unfair that they should be saddled with additional costs. Coming on top of recent APD increases, this proposed new charge will cause further damage to regional businesses.”
Recently Bmi has also spoken out against the planned rise in the domestic passenger charge.
Chief executive officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said: “We are outraged at this BAA plan to increase prices. These planned higher charges are unjustifiable when domestic passengers do not use the same facilities as international passengers. The charging structure from Heathrow is therefore favouring long-haul airlines and neglects the need of local British airlines serving the domestic markets.
"The new charges will not only lead to higher prices for domestic flights but also price travellers onto other forms of transport which, on some routes such as Heathrow-Belfast, is simply not feasible. Comments made by political decision-makers that domestic passengers should use trains can only be labelled as cynical taking into account the over-water journey to and from Belfast and the length of train journeys to and from Scotland.”
by Dinah Hatch
