London's Heathrow Airport risked a new breach with its airlines on Friday as it said it would increase fees to pay for a £10bn expansion to deliver 10 million extra passengers a year.
Heathrow served almost 40 million passengers in the six months to June but says it can up numbers by faster security and baggage handling, as well as AI systems to improve punctuality. There would also be new lounges, shops and restaurants within existing terminals.
Airlines are hostile saying the passenger ends up footing the bill for Heathrow's rising bills. Virgin Atlantic said “it is ultimately consumers and airlines that pay the bill,” while British Airways owner IAG SA called the increase in charges “excessive”.
The airport has proposed bumping up landing charges from a current average of £28.46 to £33.26 per person in 2027 to be able to deliver the project. The extra charges are subject to approval by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and would kick in by 2031 at Europe's busiest airport.
It has previously asked Heathrow to reduce fees charged to carriers. The carriers have launched a campaign to break the stranglehold of the operator on the airport.
The airport hasn’t yet finished installing next-generation security scanners, which don’t require passengers to remove liquids and electronic items from hand luggage.
Executives say there is no alternative to major investments as the airport gears up to deliver a third runway that would increase flight capacity. "This major infrastructure programme marks Heathrow's most significant transformation in over a decade," said chief executive Thomas Woldbye. "To compete with global hubs, we must invest."
Infrastructure at the airport and its surrounding support facilities, controlled by other bodies, is creaking. Heathrow was closed for almost an entire day earlier this year after a “preventable, technical fault” led to the fire at an electrical substation.
It was probably caused by moisture that had been present in electrical components for seven years but went “unaddressed”, a review by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) has found.
