British Airways owner mulls legal action over Heathrow charges hike

The owner of British Airways is considering legal action after Heathrow Airport was given permission to sting passengers for hundreds of millions of pounds to cover pandemic losses. Bosses at IAG, the FTSE 100 company that also owns Aer Lingus and Iberia, are furious that regulators are allowing Heathrow to raise an extra GBP300m through increased passenger charges. They are understood to be mulling the launch of a judicial review to block the decision by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). A spokesman for IAG said: “The airport has deliberately rewarded its investors at the expense of consumers and now the regulator is asking passengers to bail it out." The firm's criticism was echoed by former BA boss Willie Walsh, now head of airlines trade body IATA, who described the plans as "madness". Heathrow has been battered by the pandemic, plunging to a GBP2b loss last year as restrictions were imposed on international air travel and a golden age of flying came to a crashing halt.<br/>