Heathrow, airlines appeal airport fees ruling
Heathrow Airport and airline customers BA and Virgin Atlantic remain on a collision course over airport fees.
The airport and the airlines are separately appealing the landing fees set by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The airport says they are too low to ensure required infrastructure upgrades and quality of service.
The airlines however, want lower fees and have accused the airport of price gouging just to recover pandemic era losses.
The appeals will be heard by the Competition and Markets Authority.
The CAA set the fees based on overly conservative projections of passenger numbers, Virgin says.
It ‘contained multiple errors of fact and judgment, including pessimistic passenger forecasts that ignore the strength of the recovery,’ the airline stated.
“The CAA did not go far enough in its final determination, resulting in excessive Heathrow charges.”
BA owner IAG said the Heathrow’s airport charges puts the UK at a competitive disadvantage compared with other cheaper European airports.
The CAA had set the fees to represent a balance between customer costs and the need to raise funds for airport improvements.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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