BA Chief Gives Heathrow Airport Warning
British Airways' chief executive Willie Walsh has warned that the state of London Heathrow Airport could be damaging the UK's economy.
Mr Walsh said Heathrow's reputation for delays, long security queues and baggage problems - summed up by the media as "Heathrow Hassle" - could damage the UK's economy in the long term, since businesses would no longer wish to put up with the problems experienced at the UK's busiest flight hub.
In a speech to the Institute of Directors (IoD) conference in London, Mr Walsh said: "I believe it is in the interest of the country that the reputation of Heathrow as an effective global hub is restored on a lasting basis as quickly as possible. For the sake of the UK economy and London's place as a business capital, Heathrow has to catch up".
Mr Walsh said that Heathrow was losing competitive ground with other major European airports such as Frankfurt and Amsterdam because of the continuing problems, and that this could in the future lead to some major economic contributors in the City of London deciding to move operations elsewhere in search of greater efficiency and better facilities.
He said: "UK business will lose competitiveness and might be forced to consider relocating abroad".
The airline boss repeated his call, originally made in December, that the proposed third runway and sixth terminal should be given the go-ahead by the government in order to help UK economic competitiveness, in addition to easing congestion and improving punctuality.
Mr Walsh's comments came just hours after his counterpart at American Airlines, Don Langford, savaged Heathrow's standard of facilities, saying the airport was "a bit of a dump".
British Airways Apology For Heathrow T5 "Embarrassment"
Mr Walsh used the IoD speech to once again offer a profuse apology for the chaos experienced at Heathrow's Terminal 5's opening few weeks.
Admitting that the opening of the terminal had been an "acute embarrassment", Mr Walsh said the airline was "sorry" for the problems experienced by passengers. He admitted that BA had made mistakes during the opening few days of the airline's flagship terminal, and that the airline was "bitterly disappointed" with the problems experienced by the terminal's baggage system.
Mr Walsh noted that the baggage system was now "stable" and performing well. He said the airline was hoping passengers and industry would "not...rush to judgement [about T5] on the basis of the first few days". He said the terminal would eventually provide a "great era" for both the airline and Heathrow passengers.
Mr Walsh added that BA was "on course" to meet the target of centralising BA long-haul flights from across Heathrow onto T5 by the start of June, and that this process should be completed by October.
Source - Airport International's London Reporter
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