Heathrow faces major shareholder opposition over airport fee hike
London Heathrow is facing boardroom opposition to its plan to raise £2.8 billion by hiking airport fees.
Qatar Airways has called the plan ‘unreasonable, not in the consumer interest and should be rejected’ according to The Telegraph newspaper.
Qatar Airways’ parent is the airport operator’s second largest shareholder and the airline group’s chief executive, Akbar Al-Baker has a seat on Heathrow’s board of directors.
The plan to change the regulatory framework in order to raise more revenues has also been rejected by the Civil Aviation Authority.
A spokesman for Heathrow claims it needs to make regulatory adjustments to lower prices for travellers.
Passenger traffic through LHR is at its lowest level for more than 50 years due to the ban on non-essential travel and quarantine rules.
March 2021 passenger figures were down 83%.
IATA has also called out the airport over proposed fee hikes to airlines and airport contractors.
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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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