Article from BTNews 29 JULY 2019
Booming Heathrow in APD challenge
A renewed call for Air Passenger Duty (APD) reform came from Heathrow last week as the airport reported continued strong passenger growth for the first six months of 2019.
The half-yearly summary recalled Heathrow supported the goal of net zero carbon by 2050 and was calling on the UN’s aviation body ICAO to set targets for the use of biofuels in aviation, as recommended by the Energy Transition Commission.
The report added: “We also call on the government to invest some of the nearly £4bn annual revenue raised from Air Passenger Duty to scale-up production of sustainable fuels.”
The summary said demand to fly from the UK’s hub hit a record high of 38.8m passengers, a rise of 1.8%, in the first half of the year, underpinned by higher passenger satisfaction and increased investment
Record-breaking passenger satisfaction saw the airport secure a place among the top 10 airports globally in the Skytrax awards, along with 82% of passengers rating their experience as either “excellent” or “very good”.
On investing for the future, the report noted Heathrow had spent more than £412m to improve the passenger experience while raising £1.4bn so far this year for a “war chest” to deliver the £14bn privately-funded north west runway.
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