Cruz repeats BA warning

With an announcement by the government on runway capacity in the South East now expected tomorrow (18 October), British Airways last week repeated it would oppose any move by Heathrow to raise charges if the airport is given the go-ahead to expand.

The new warning came from BA chief executive Alex Cruz and echoes remarks earlier this year (BTN 27 June) by Willie Walsh, CEO of International Airlines Group – which includes BA. Cruz was delivering the BATA Annual Lecture last Wednesday.

He said: "If we were to get some sort of news that it was going ahead at Heathrow, and Heathrow Airport were to react very quickly, saying from January 1 we're going to add £10 (to airport charges), we wouldn't react very well. We would very much oppose such a move."

Cruz said there was “an overwhelming case” for extra capacity at the UK’s aviation hub – but not at any cost. “Heathrow is already the most expensive hub airport in the world, and any notion that the financial burden of expansion should be met by airline customers before the new runway comes into use is simply unacceptable,” he said.

“If the government does give the nod to Heathrow, then it should be the airport’s shareholders who bear responsibility for the development costs, with no impact on passenger charges. 

“Heathrow’s investors do pretty well out of its monopoly hub status – typically receiving about three times the financial returns of an average FTSE 100 company. “Heathrow should put its own money where its mouth is, not impose a runway tax on our customers for 10 years before it opens.”

For the full text of Cruz’ speech, see  www.bata.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Alex-Cruz-BATA-annual-lecture-speech.pdf

 

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