Heathrow Chief Executive Criticises State of Airport
The Chief Executive of London Heathrow, Tony Douglas, has publicly and severely criticised the current state of the UK's most prominent and largest airport. As covered recently in Airports International, UK travellers face a summer of much disruption as new degrees of security, particularly in relation to passport checks, are introduced across Britain's airports. Now, Mr Douglas has described Heathrow's infrastructure as held together by "sticking plaster", "bursting at the seams" and, in terms of its conditions, inducing him to "cringe" at what he sees.
Mr Douglas surmised that the service is "simply not good enough."
No improvement in the facilities at Heathrow will take place until next year, when Terminal 5 opens. But, for the meantime, airlines and prominent business figures alike have launched vicious attacks on the hub. Conceived to accommodate a maximum of 45 million passengers on an annual basis, Heathrow is currently straining, with a figure closer to 68 million.
Speaking to the press, Mr Douglas confessed that Heathrow's capacity threshold was being significantly tested. He said: "The proposition for the traveller isn't always what we would want and it's simply not good enough. But the truth is that Heathrow is handling the equivalent of a Manchester and Stansted over and above what it was designed to do."
Mr Douglas' admission coincided with a warning, made by the Lord Mayor of London, John Stuttard, to Gordon Brown. In this, Mayor Stuttard detailed how, unless facilities are London's airports were improved, prominent businessmen from overseas could be encouraged to avoid them altogether.
Both BAA, which operates London Heathrow, and its Spanish parent firm Ferrovial, are now investing their hopes in Terminal 5 to relax the pressure currently in force. Plans are also in the pipeline to significantly to redevelop Heathrow's existing terminals.
Recent sizable investment in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport has benefited it greatly. Heathrow's most prominent counterparts are now seen to be Schiphol (Amsterdam), Frankfurt and Charles de Gaulle.
For the immediate future, another challenging summer lies in wait for Heathrow, with reinforced security checks set to take their toll on passengers. According to Mr Douglas, an additional 500 security staff have been called upon to be present at Heathrow's checkpoints. This has led, he said, to a figure of 97 per cent of passengers who are able to reach the departure lounge within 10 minutes. However, given Heathrow's current daily passenger level of 200,000 each day, there were, Mr Douglas confessed, "an awful lot of disappointed customers."
Source - Airport International Newsdesk
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