Heathrow Airport has been ordered to lower the passenger fees that it charges airlines using the UK hub.
The Civil Aviation Authority announced that Heathrow, Britain's biggest airport, could charge an average maximum price per passenger of £27.49 ($32.51) over the 2022-2026 period.
The lower fee will be a boost for airlines such as IAG's British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, two of Heathrow's biggest, by making the airport cheaper for them.
After two years of higher interim prices over 2022 and 2023, including a charge of £31.57 per passenger for this year, Heathrow charges will fall to about £25.43 per passenger over the 2024-2026 period. Passengers will pay a substantially lower rate in the next three years to meet a new five-year average fee.
The CAA said the cut in charges “recognises that passenger volumes are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels and should benefit passengers in terms of lower costs”.
Its chief executive Richard Moriarty said the regulator had “carefully considered the sharply differing views from Heathrow Airport Limited and the airlines”.
“Our job is to reach an independent decision from these conflicting commercial interests and focus on what is in the best interests for the travelling public that will use Heathrow in the years to come”, he said.
“We are confident our final decision represents a good deal for consumers using Heathrow, while having regard for the airport's need to efficiently finance its operations and be able to invest in improving services for the future”, he added.
Airport executives have been highly critical of plans to reduce the proposed landing charges, highlighting Britain's high rate of inflation.
Last month, the airport operator reported underlying pre-tax losses of £684 million for last year, against a loss of £1.3 billion in 2021, even though it said it saw the largest increase in passengers of any European airport last year.
“The CAA has chosen to cut airport charges to their lowest real terms level in a decade at a time when airlines are making massive profits and Heathrow remains loss-making because of fewer passengers and higher financing costs”, a spokesman for Heathrow said.
“This makes no sense and will do nothing for consumers at a time when the CAA should be incentivising investment to rebuild service.”
The CAA said its plans include a £3.6 billion capital investment programme, with about £1.3 billion to be spent on next generation security scanners and a new baggage system in Terminal 2, benefiting passengers.
It said the new charging structure incentivises Heathrow to provide a good quality of service for passengers and have measures and targets to meet, for example on time waiting in security queues and helpfulness of staff.
Luis Gallego, chief executive of British Airways' parent company IAG, said: “Heathrow already charges three times more per passenger than other major airports in Europe including Gatwick and Madrid, and five times more than Dublin.
“If the CAA had fully taken into account industry forecasts of passenger volumes post-Covid, it should result in lower prices for consumers.”
Virgin Atlantic said the new average charge “still penalises passengers at the world's most expensive airport”.
“The CAA has not gone far enough to push back on a monopolistic Heathrow and fulfil its statutory duty to protect consumers”, said Virgin's chief executive Shai Weiss.
“This process has proven that the regulatory framework, including the formula used to set charges, is fundamentally broken. We'll review our position carefully.”
Heathrow and airlines have six weeks to appeal the CAA decision with the Competition and Markets Authority.
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Poacher
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
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