Heathrow rubbishes Gatwick as a long-haul alternative
Heathrow Airport has rubbished claims by Gatwick that it can support long-haul flights to growth markets, issuing a list of services that have been withdrawn from Gatwick since 2008.
Submitting evidence to the Airports Commission today, Heathrow challenged claims by Gatwick that long-haul flights do not need to operate from a hub airport.
It said in total, 20 long-haul airlines have withdrawn from Gatwick in the last five years.
"There is no need for a crystal ball to test Gatwick’s claims that it can provide long-haul flights when we have the hard evidence of 10 years of failure," said Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews.
"While Heathrow has been full, airline after airline has tried without success to make long-haul flights from Gatwick work. Gatwick doesn’t have a flight to New York, one of the world’s most important business and financial centres, so it’s not surprising it can’t support routes to the less popular and more distant destinations that will be critical to future trade.
"Gatwick’s proposal to prevent Heathrow expanding, while adding a new runway at its own airport, endangers Britain’s future competitiveness. It is a zero-hub solution that will lead to an irreversible decline in Britain’s international connections. Only a hub airport with the scale to compete internationally can provide the long-haul flights the UK needs."
Heathrow stressed that it is not opposed to growth at Gatwick "as long as it is alongside building an expanded hub airport".
It said many of the airlines which have pulled out of Gatwick instead operate flights to economic rivals in France, Germany and Holland.
"The issue is not a lack of demand from London, but that without levelling out the daily peaks and troughs in local demand with transfer passengers, Gatwick cannot fill long-haul aircraft and compete with Paris, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam," it said.
"Some of Gatwick’s flights to Vietnam, one of the last long-haul services to an emerging market from the airport, are now flying via Frankfurt to pick up more passengers to make the flight viable."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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