Heathrow airport and airlines launch rival appeals over landing fee ruling

Heathrow airport and two of the UK’s biggest airlines have launched separate appeals against the level of landing charges at the hub airport, extending a bitter confrontation as the industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Civil Aviation Authority, the industry regulator, ruled in March that landing fees paid by airlines to land at the main international airport that serves London should fall from GBP31.57 a passenger to GBP25.43 from next year. The appeals against the CAA’s decision, which will be considered by the Competition and Markets Authority watchdog, extend a feud between Heathrow and its biggest airlines that has gripped the UK aviation industry for more than a year. Heathrow launched its appeal on Wednesday, arguing that the rates, which are typically passed to customers through ticket prices, should be higher to encourage greater investment into the airport. “We believe the CAA has once again focused on driving down charges to airlines, which will not be passed on to passengers, and is undermining the investment needed to deliver the airport service and resilience consumers want,” the airport said in a statement. The airport says that its owners, a group of international investors including Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, will see low returns under the current fee structure, leaving Heathrow less attractive than other regulated assets. In contrast, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways owner IAG said they had appealed to try to lower the charges further, given that they were some of the highest in the world. Virgin said the regulator’s decision “contained multiple errors of fact and judgment, including pessimistic passenger forecasts that ignore the strength of recovering demand”.<br/>