Airlines squirm in face of all-powerful CAA
EasyJet has slammed the Government’s plans to give the Civil Aviation Authority greater powers to regulate UK airports, which transport secretary Philip Hammond said should become ‘better, not bigger’.
The CAA will also be handed a new primary duty to promote the interests of passengers and to drive passenger-focused investment in airports, such as new baggage handling equipment or more modern facilities.
EasyJet spokesman Oliver Aust said: "These proposals place too much reliance on the CAA getting it right, without it facing any real checks and balances.
"Delivering better airports means ensuring they are built around the needs of passengers. The proposals do not create a framework for this to be achieved."
Under Hammond’s proposals, earlier plans to extend passenger representation group Passenger Focus from rail to air travel will be scrapped.
"The Government believes that it is important to have strong passenger representation but that this is not the time to be make additional structural changes which will add to the regulatory burden on industry," he said.
The CAA will be granted new powers to take action against airports that underperform and new powers to investigate and take action against anti-competitive behaviour, said Hammond.
The proposals would also see a switch to a new regulatory licensing regime. Hammond said this will allow regulation to be tailored to meet the requirements of individual airports, rather than the same conditions being applied to all regulated airports.
"This will enable the CAA to better target regulatory activity where and when it is needed to protect the interests of consumers.
"The way our airports are regulated is in urgent need of reform. The current economic regulation legislation dates from 1986, when the aviation sector looked very different from today.
"We must now put passengers at the heart of how our airports are run. We have already announced that we do not support the building of new runways at Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted. We want to make those airports better, not bigger and that is exactly what these measures will do."
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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