Yahoo Finance Virgin Atlantic chief urges Heathrow to cover cost of any overspend as airport kicks off consultation
Virgin Atlantic has called for a guarantee to prevent passenger charges rising on the back of an expanded Heathrow as the airport kicks off a 10-week consultation on its plans.
The airline’s chief executive Craig Kreeger has suggested there should be a "passenger cost guarantee" to ensure airport charges do not rise significantly from their current levels.
“Our passengers already pay the highest airport charges in the world – they should not be asked to pay even more to fund expansion,” he said.
“To protect passengers, we’re calling upon Heathrow to introduce a passenger cost guarantee, setting out the total budget for delivering the expansion programme, committing that passenger charges will not increase in real terms, and guaranteeing to cover the costs of any overspend.”
The comments echo those of other airline executives, notably Willie Walsh at British Airways owner IAG who has urged Heathrow not to raise prices.
The airport is seeking views on options for completing the expansion project over 10 weeks until 28 March including three options for the length of the new runway from 3,200 metres to 3,500 metres.
Regardless of its length though, it is thought the runway will still need to cross the M25. The plans for the road will also be outlined in the consultation. Heathrow wants to move the road approximately 150 metres to the west, and lower it by 7 metres in a tunnel and raise the runway height so it passes over the M25.
It also wants to get feedback on how it should build its extra terminal capacity. The airport recently slashed £2.5bn of its projected costs by claiming it would build a smaller new terminal over existing transport and baggage infrastructure rather than a larger one which would need connecting to the airport’s services.
Views will also be sought on the potential rules governing flight paths, such as whether to concentrate flights in fewer areas or to spread them out over more communities in rotation. The consultation will not be able to specify where exactly these paths could be though.
John Stewart, chairman of campaign group Hacan, said he welcomed the chance to shape the rules surrounding new flight paths.
“What matters most to local communities is how many planes go over them in a day,” he said. “They don’t want all-day flying. We will be pressing for the new flight paths to ensure that every community gets a period of respite from the planes each day.”
