Plan for London airports charges due
Aviation regulators will tomorrow provide the first indication of how much airlines will be charged for using London’s three main airports over the period 2014-19.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) initial proposals are for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports and will have an impact on air fares.
The three airports are the only ones regulated by the CAA, which can cap the amount the airports can impose on airlines in take-off and landing fees.
Heathrow bosses want the CAA to allow them to increase airline charges at the west London airport from the equivalent of £19.33 (€22.94) per passenger for 2012/13 to as much as £27.30 (€32.40) for 2018/19.
Gatwick chiefs want to be free of CAA regulation altogether and have argued for a new seven-year, regulation-free regime which would equate to the per-passenger fee going up from £8.80 (€10.44) in 2014 to a maximum of £10.68 (€12.67) in 2020/21.
At Stansted, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has long railed against what he sees as excessive airline charges and has been particularly scathing of the CAA as a regulatory body.
Tomorrow’s announcement from the CAA will represent the authority’s initial proposals with a final decision due in January 2014.
This is the first time that a five-year set of charges has been announced when the three London airports have been under separate management.
Before, airport operator BAA – now known as Heathrow – ran all three airports. But Gatwick is now operated by Global Infrastructure Partners, which also runs London City airport and the former BAA-operated Edinburgh airport, while Stansted’s new owner is the Manchester Airports Group.
Another change in the regulations for 2014-19 is that the CAA now has powers to alter licence conditions within the five-year period.
For instance, if an airport performed poorly during bad weather one winter, the CAA could change its licence to ensure problems did not happen the following year.
