Heathrow Airport has been urged to get its act together and address a litany of problems rather than pointing the finger of blame at airlines.
Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), said it was “unacceptable” for John Holland-Kaye, the airport’s boss, to suggest airlines were somehow in the wrong.
Speaking at the Airlines 2022 conference in London on Monday, Mr Walsh said airlines were in an “extremely difficult” position in their post-pandemic recovery journey, and the issues at Heathrow had had a negative impact on them.
Passengers at the west London airport were this year forced to queue for hours to get through security. A lack of staff meant Heathrow, like other airports, was ill-prepared to cope with a sudden surge in demand for travel after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in March.
The disruption continued into the summer and the airport made the controversial decision to impose a limit on the number of passengers airlines could fly to and from the airport.
The cap of 100,000 outgoing passengers was introduced in July before being abolished this month.
Mr Walsh said the policy had a noticeably damaging effect on airlines and served as a blockage in their bid to take advantage in an increase in demand for travel.
Responding to a question from The National, the aviation chief said there was “clear evidence that the disruption that Heathrow did have an impact” on airlines.
“If you to go back earlier this year in terms of the booking profiles, there was clear evidence that there was disruption to the pattern that we witnessed in the recovery at Heathrow,” he added. “I think that's been overcome to a large degree.
“But the fact that you had a cap on the number of passengers at Heathrow definitely suppressed the demand. Had that cap not been there, airlines operating at Heathrow would have been carrying more passengers and generating more revenue.
“So given that it largely did reduce the number of flights, it had a marginal effect but it definitely reduced the number of passengers travelling on the flights that were operating, it had a negative financial impact on the airlines operating at Heathrow.”
Mr Walsh said Heathrow continued to be a “major problem” for airlines operating from the hub.
In comments that drew laughter from the audience, he said the only other European airport that has experienced prolonged chaos is Schiphol in the Netherlands — and its chief executive lost his job. While he accused Mr Holland-Kaye of presiding over a mess, he stopped short of suggesting he should step down.
Earlier, Mr Holland-Kaye told The National that caps would be imposed over the Christmas period after recent reports suggested otherwise.
Virgin Atlantic boss Shai Weiss received a round of applause when he told delegates at the conference that Heathrow must operate at full capacity in summer 2023. The airport has said it is aiming to steer clear of passenger caps next summer.
Mr Walsh told the audience at the Airlines conference that the Heathrow boss had previously suggested airlines were partly to blame for the issues at the UK’s busiest airport.
He said the UK government and the Civil Aviation Authority “could have been more vocal in criticising Heathrow for their performance”.
“I think allowing John Holland-Kaye to point a finger at airlines and say 'it's all the airlines’ fault' was unacceptable,” Mr Walsh said.
Mr Holland-Kaye this month accused major airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic of capitalising on pent-up demand for overseas travel in the summer, maintaining artificially high fares.
Travel chaos at Heathrow - in pictures
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
THREE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
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Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
The specs: 2017 Lotus Evora Sport 410
Price, base / as tested Dh395,000 / Dh420,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 410hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 420Nm @ 3,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.7L / 100km
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Aggro%20Dr1ft
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Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Set-jetting on the Emerald Isle
Other shows filmed in Ireland include: Vikings (County Wicklow), The Fall (Belfast), Line of Duty (Belfast), Penny Dreadful (Dublin), Ripper Street (Dublin), Krypton (Belfast)
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
