British Airways threatens to shift resources from Heathrow
British Airways’ chief executive has repeated its threat to divert resources away from the UK’s biggest hub if the airport tries to pass the immediate costs of building a third runway on to airlines.
Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA parent IAG, told TravelMole earlier this year that the airline would consider moving services to other airports if this happened.
Now, BA chief executive Alex Cruz has reiterated Walsh’s claim that the airline would look at expanding its hubs in Dublin, Shannon and elsewhere rather than paying higher fees at Heathrow.
Delivering the British Air Transport Association’s annual lecture just days before the Government is due to announce if and how they plan to expand air capacity in the southeast, Cruz said there was an ‘overwhelming case’ for more capacity at Heathrow.
However, he said the cost should not be borne by airlines. If fees were to increase, Cruz said IAG would look at expanding operations elsewhere. In addition to Ireland, it has hubs in Madrid for Iberia and Barcelona for its low-cost carrier Vueling.
BA’s concern, said Cruz, is Heathrow’s plan to build a third runway at a cost of £16.5 billion, rather than extending one of its two existing runways, which BA supports as it would cost much less.
The airline is even less enthusiastic about Gatwick’s plan to build a second runway, for which hit claimed there was insufficient demand from both customers and airlines.
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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