Article from BTNews 31 JULY 2017
Charges pledge by Heathrow
“Good progress” was reported by Heathrow last week in attempts to meet the challenge set by the government to finance the £18.6bn third-runway expansion at the airport without increasing charges to passengers.
Airport CEO John Holland-Kaye said Heathrow had been asked to expand while keeping airport charges close to current levels. “Working with airlines, we are making good progress to meet this challenge while delivering our local commitments and the global connections our country needs.”
Airlines UK chief executiveTim Alderslade welcomed the statement, noting that the UK post-Brexit would need to compete even more with other hubs. “We look forward to seeing the detail behind Heathrow’s announcement,” he added.
“Airlines are clear the cost of expansion they and their customers pay for is a key factor. We need the right solution at the right price at the right time … and over time the aim should be for charges to come down as number of movements increases.”
• Heathrow set another record with passenger traffic rising by 3.9% to 37.1m for the first half of 2017. Revenue over the same period increased by 4.1% to £1.37bn and the airport’s pre-tax profit increased by 36% to £102m year-on-year.
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David Starkie, United Kingdom
Waffle. The crucial need is to cut the cost of this gold-plated project. Shortening the runway would help or building in two stages (see Comment Article ,September 14, 2015)