Heathrow slashes fees for domestic flights
Heathrow Airport has increased its environmental charges by 7% and slashed its charges for domestic flights by 50%.
Starting this month, passengers flying to any UK destination from Heathrow will have a £15 discount, which the airport said will result in savings of nearly £40 million a year.
Heathrow said the discount should make domestic routes more commercially viable for airlines. The announcement forms part of its plans to almost double its domestic connections from eight today to at least 14 by 2025, if its third runway gets the go ahead.
Boss John Holland-Kaye said: "Every corner of our country should be able to benefit from the growth and trade that stems from links to the nation’s hub airport – that’s why Heathrow is making it cheaper to fly within the UK by reducing our domestic passenger charges even further for the second consecutive year."
The airport has been under pressure from airlines to tackle passenger charges as part of its expansion plans, with trade body Airlines UK warning last month that it would withdraw support for Heathrow’s expansion plans if domestic charges increased.
The hike in environmental costs was part of the airport’s strategy to encourage airlines to use their newest aircraft at Heathrow, added Holland-Kaye.
The airport has also started regularly updating a league table that ranks Heathrow airlines by noise and levels of pollution.
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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