Landing fees will cut security queues
[12th March 2008]
Higher landing fees for passengers at Heathrow airport and Gatwick airport will help shorten queues at security and contribute towards the cost of the new Heathrow Terminal 5.
This is the claim of the airport regulator, the CAA. Maximum passenger fees at Heathrow airport have been increased by 23.5% to £12.80. At Gatwick airport they have been raised by 21% to £6.79.
The CAA says that higher landing fees will increase service levels at Heathrow and Gatwick, leading to shorter queues at security, cleaner terminals and better information for passengers.
Airport operator BAA has been given financial incentives by the CAA to make sure services like airport security are improved. New targets have been set, including security queues should be less than 5 minutes long for 95% of the day. BAA will be penalised for poor service by between 3 and 7% of total airport charges revenue.
“These higher airport charges are essentially paying for the modernisation of Heathrow and Gatwick, in terms of both facilities and service, for the direct benefit of the passenger. At Heathrow, this entails paying for the full capital and operating costs of Terminal 5,” adds the CAA in its statement.
As well as Terminal 5, BAA is also building the new Heathrow East Terminal which is due to open by 2013, and modernising the rest of Heathrow. At Gatwick, the check in area and forecourt access will be improved at the South Terminal and a new baggage system will be installed.
Not surprisingly airlines using Heathrow and Gatwick have reacted angrily to the hike in landing fees, although these are bound to be passed on to passengers.
Airlines including bmi, easyJet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic are concerned that the debt taken on by Spanish group Ferrovial when it purchased BAA may threaten the financial stability of BAA. The airlines would like BAA’s monopoly of London airports to be broken up so that Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are owned by separate companies.
Written by: Nick Purdom