BAA “faces legal threat over fees”

Virgin Atlantic and bmi British Midland are reportedly threatening legal action against the airport operator BAA because of increased passenger charges at Heathrow Airport.

According to The Times, the two carriers object to a charging system that effectively means they will be paying for improvements to the west London airport that only their competitor British Airways will benefit.

Specifically, the head of bmi Sir Michael Bishop is quoted as saying that, now he is two thirds of the way through negotiations with BAA, he does not understand why other carriers are being made to help fund the £4 billion Terminal Five project.

A spokesman for Sir Michael reportedly said: “What he is saying is that legal action is getting more and more likely.”

A Virgin spokeswoman is quoted as saying: “Since we pay the same charges as British Airways we should be provided with the same level of facilities and services. We are not ruling anything out.”

A BAA spokesman reportedly pointed out that Heathrow’s landing charges were lower that at many other European airports, and that slots at Heathrow were sought-after because they had recently changed hands for “many millions of pounds”.

Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad