BA owner warns MPs not to trust Heathrow over expansion plans
Airlines are calling on MPs not to give the go-ahead for a third runway at Heathrow unless the airport guarantees it won’t lead to higher landing charges.
Heathrow has said that it is confident it will be able to keep fees close to the current levels of around £22 per passenger, but Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA parent IAG, told a Commons’ Transport Select Committee that he had ‘zero’ confidence in the airport.
"What they are saying is, ‘Trust us. Just give us the approval to build this and we will deliver on time and on budget’.
"I don’t trust them and you shouldn’t trust them either," said Walsh.
He said he wanted Heathrow to give a guarantee that passenger charges will not increase, rather than ‘loose wording’.
Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Kreeger told the committee that he was also concerned over Heathrow’s budget for the third runway and called on the airport to promise that passenger charges would not rise if the cost goes up.
He said: "(Heathrow) has the most information about how likely the costs are to be deliverable and they should bear the risk of their estimate being grossly off target."
EasyJet UK director Sophie Dekkers said the airline ‘would want a commitment’ that passenger charges will remain close to current levels.
Flybe’s Simon McNamara said while the airline would like to grow at Heathrow to help drive domestic connections, it could ‘take it or leave it’ and simply will not expand ‘if the costs don’t work’.
Heathrow said late last year that it had identified savings of £2.5 billion, bringing the cost of the third runway down to £14.3 billion.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling said the government aims to approve plans for the new runway at Heathrow within the next four months, subject to consultation work and winning the backing of parliament.
Heathrow aims to have the third runway operational by 2025.
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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