Heathrow Airport "Worst in Europe", says AA's Langford
A senior US airline executive has publically criticised London Heathrow Airport, referring to it as the “worst in Europe.”
American Airlines’ (AA's) Don Langford – the carrier’s head of Customer Services Europe – continued by calling Heathrow a “bit of a dump.”
Heathrow Terminal 5
Langford’s stark comments coincided with Heathrow’s reputation reconstruction efforts after the Terminal 5 fiasco that saw thousands of bags go missing, and large numbers of departures delayed.
In his opinion, Heathrow was at the bottom of the destinations in Europe served by American Airlines.
"Heathrow is not just bursting at the seams. I think the seams have burst", he advised the BBC.
“If you look at the fabric of the building, if you look at where customers check in - missing light bulbs, duck tape on the floor.
“I would have to say that Heathrow is in many ways the worst of all the airports that my company flies to in Europe", he concluded.
BAA Airport Network
Heathrow forms part of the seven-strong UK airport network operated by BAA.
According to the airport operating group, the scene at Heathrow was an improving one.
A £4 billion investment, it added, would be forthcoming.
Tom Kelly, Corporate Affairs Director, described Heathrow as “...an airport which was designed for something like 45 million passengers”, adding: “...we have now got 65 million.
"We are investing £4bn over the next five years.....you've got to realise that if you are going to invest that kind of money it takes time to put things right", he said.
CAA’s Call for BAA, BA T5 Report
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has called on both BAA and British Airways to produce reports on the issues that affected Terminal 5 as a matter of urgency, as the authority’s Harry Bush explained:
"We have said very clearly to both BAA and BA we want to see the lessons-learned exercise conducted very quickly because the next stage of modernisation at Heathrow is going to require a lot of different airline moves between the terminals at the east end of the airport”, he said.
"We want to make sure the same mess-up doesn't occur there."
Source – Airport International’s London Reporter
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