Walsh rejects Heathrow plan for higher costs

Willie Walsh, head of the international aviation organization IATA, has called Britain’s Heathrow airport a “greedy monopoly hub” and said his plans to increase airport charges were “outrageous”.

Willie Walsh left Aer Lingus and British Airways parent company IAG last year to head the International Air Transport Association.

Since his departure, he has continued to beat the drum against passenger charges at Britain’s busiest airport.

Addressing an audience at London’s Aviation Club, he said Heathrow was trying to put the financial burden of the Covid-19 crisis on its customers by proposing to raise airport charges by 90% to £42 per person.

“This time, when you see what Heathrow is trying to do, it just jumps off the page,” Walsh said.

Heathrow, which lost its crown as Europe’s busiest hub to Paris last year, is owned by investors including Spain’s Ferrovial, the Qatar Investment Authority and China Investment Corp.

It said airports in Britain and the world had to raise their prices after the pandemic, and it was a legitimate response to ensure they could continue to operate.

“We have proposed a balanced 4% increase in the average airfare, which will allow us to continue to target investments in airport resilience and maintain basic standards of service,” Heathrow said in a statement.

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Walsh said the higher costs would fund bigger dividends for Heathrow shareholders.

He called on the UK regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, to protect consumers by curbing the airport’s “excessive behaviour”.

“The recovery of Britain’s travel and tourism industry is impacting millions of jobs. They cannot be held hostage by the intransigence of what is essentially a greedy monopoly hub airport,” he said.

“I can’t see how nearly doubling costs at Heathrow is in the best interest of consumers, especially as we try to recover the industry,” he added.