Report Recommends Heathrow/Gatwick Charges Capped
The Competition Commission (CC) recommended on the 3rd October 2007 that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) place an upper threshold on the airport charges at London Heathrow and Gatwick. The recommendation came within a report issued after a six-month-long investigation.
The report suggests that Heathrow’s airport charges should increase to £10.96 in the period 2008-2009. Following this, the charges should not exceed an annual figure of RPI (Retail Price Index) inflation + 7.5 per cent.
In respect of Gatwick, a rise of £5.48 is proposed for 2008-2009, with a yearly increase of RPI inflation – 0.5 per cent at most.
The CC’s recommendation is covered in a statement dated 3rd October 2007 that appeared on the CAA’s website. The aviation authority stressed in this that the recommendation was just that, and did not actually mean implementation of the measures proposed was now compulsory. It does affirm that the next few weeks will now act as a period of consideration, following which, the CAA intends to issue independent data in relation to Gatwick/Heathrow’s price controls. The deadline given for this publication is the 20th November.
The CAA statement also touches on the issue of airport queues – a subject of much contention among passengers this year in particular. In this regard, the statement reads: “The CAA also notes that the Commission has found that Heathrow and Gatwick airports, in failing to manage security queuing and queue times to avoid unacceptable delays to passengers, crew and flights, have acted against the public interest, and that the Commission proposes that these effects can be remedied through a broadening and strengthening of existing service quality regulations.
“The CAA cannot reject a public interest finding made by the Commission and will be making proposals that remedy the adverse effects of the airports’ conduct.”
Both London Heathrow and Gatwick airports are operated by BAA, which is owned by the Spanish firm Ferrovial. In recent days, the issue of the sale of one of these was raised by Nicholas Villen – Ferrovial’s Finance Director.
Source – Airport International’s London Reporter
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