Heathrow given green light to increase passenger charge

Now Heathrow passengers face paying £7 MORE for tickets under new plans to raise airport’s charges despite months of queue chaos

  • London airport has been given the green light to raise prices it charges airlines
  • Airport bosses had wanted to charge up to £43 in January but were blocked
  • Civil Aviation Authority ordered to cost to be capped at £25 to £35 for five years
  • Heathrow has agreed to an interim figure of £30 for passenger charge next year
  • It charges £23 for cost of operating terminals, runways, baggage and security

Holidaymakers and frequent flyers are facing yet more misery, with Heathrow set to hike the price it charges airlines by £7 per person.

The London airport has been given the green light to raise the prices it charges carriers to £30 per passenger from next year.

At present, the airport can charge up to £23 per passenger for the cost of operating terminals, runways, baggage systems and security.

Heathrow chiefs had wanted to charge as much as £43 from January – a plan slammed by airline bosses who accused the airport of acting like a ‘greedy monopoly’.

But industry regulator – the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) – stepped in and ordered the cost to be capped at £25 to £35 for the next five years. An interim charge of £30 has already been agreed for next year. 

The rising cost is likely to be passed on to airline passengers, who have already endured months of travel disruption, confusing travel restrictions and costly Covid testing requirements. 

It means the average family of four face an extra £28 in flight costs next year, before any annual ticket price adjustments from the airlines themselves.

It also comes as the airport this month introduced a new £5 drop-off charge outside its terminals.

However Heathrow chiefs have defended the hike, which is part of airport’s plan toto claw back its huge losses suffered due to Covid.

The airport, the UK’s largest, reported a £2billion annual loss due to a huge drop in customer numbers last year.

Holidaymakers and frequent flyers are facing yet more travel misery, with Heathrow now set to hike the price it charges airlines by £8 per person

It comes as a former British Airways boss warned last week that the cost of a family summer holiday could soar by up to £100 next year due to Heathrow airport’s ‘outrageous’ price hikes. 

Willie Walsh accused Heathrow of acting like a ‘greedy monopoly’ and said its wealthy shareholders must ‘step up’ to provide investment after years of generous dividend payouts.  

The cost of a family summer holiday could soar by up to £100 next year due to Heathrow airport’s ‘outrageous’ price hikes, former British Airways boss Willie Walsh (pictured) warned last night

The Irishman, who now runs the International Air Transport Association trade body, had joined BA and Virgin Atlantic in lobbying the CAA to block the price hikes.

Mr Walsh said: ‘Heathrow must understand that gouging its customers is not the road to recovery for itself, the airlines, travel and tourism jobs, or travellers.

‘I have sympathy for some airports, but looking for a 90 per cent increase, I just find that outrageous.

‘There is simply no justification for that, and the only reason they are doing that is because they believe they can.

‘Instead, it’s time for Heathrow’s shareholders to invest. The recovery of the UK’s travel and tourism industry impacts millions of jobs. They cannot be held hostage to the intransigence of what is effectively a greedy monopoly hub airport.’

Heathrow’s seven billionaire owners include the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar, Singapore and China. 

It has paid out about £4 billion in dividends since 2012 and has said it could restart payouts next year, after pausing them over the pandemic, if its debts come under control.

Airlines add these charges to ticket prices, meaning a family of five could pay almost £100 more for flights from Heathrow if the proposal gets the green light from the Civil Aviation Authority regulator in the coming days. (File image)

Heathrow bases its charges on the numbers using the airport.  It expects around 40 million passengers next year, compared to 80 million before the pandemic, and said this means each passenger must pay more to cover the shortfall.

Company documents show Heathrow would have raised around £1.6billion from airport charges next year – had it been able to charge the higher rate it had requested.

But the new £30 charge is expected to only raise around £300million. 

CAA chief executive Richard Moriarty told the BBC the industry had gone through ‘a really difficult period’.

Mr Moriarty said the CAA’s proposals, which will be finalised next year, struck the right balance between consumer interests and the airport. 

The charge will be brought in from October and will apply to all vehicles – including taxis and private hire cars – entering the forecourt areas outside each terminal. Pictured: The charge will apply to drop-off areas outside the airport’s terminals

The charge can still be contested by airlines, who are able to take the matter to the competition regulator – the Competition and Markets Authority. 

It comes as earlier this year Heathrow announced a new £5 passenger drop-off charge outside its terminals.

The new charge, bought in this month, applies to all vehicles – including taxis and private hire cars – entering the forecourt areas outside the airport’s terminals.

The fee must be paid online or over the phone, with number plate reading cameras, instead of barriers, being used to enforce the charge.

Heathrow chiefs say the move, which brings the airport’s policy in line with the likes of Gatwick and Manchester, who also have £5 drop-off charges, is aimed at ‘improving air quality and reducing congestion’.

The move could bringing in as much as £100million-a-year for the airport.

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