UK should demand cost pledge for new runway, say airline bosses

British lawmakers should force Heathrow to promise not to raise passenger charges before they give the airport the green light to build a new runway, airline bosses said Tuesday. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said that the government aims to give the formal go-ahead to a new runway at Europe’s busiest airport in the first half of 2018 subject to consultation work and securing the backing of parliament. Heathrow has pledged to keep down costs but the bosses of BA owner IAG and Virgin Atlantic said that the government should demand a guarantee that the airport would not become more expensive as it gets bigger. “They (Heathrow) should give the commitment that they’ve so far refused to give which is a guarantee that passenger charges will not increase,” IAG CEO Willie Walsh told the Transport Committee of lawmakers. Walsh warned that if building the new runway and associated terminals and new infrastructure gets too expensive, the expansion won’t bring the extra flights that the government hopes will boost trade and the economy. “You won’t get additional flights if Heathrow becomes even more expensive,” he said. Virgin Atlantic CE Craig Kreeger said a guarantee would incentivise Heathrow to stick to its spending plan. “They should bear the risk of their estimate being grossly off-target rather than where we find ourselves today, (which is) being quite concerned that we and our customers, or some combination thereof, would be left holding the bag for any overspending,” he said.<br/>