Heathrow to offer 50% increase in the discount for domestic flights from 1st January 2018

Heathrow to offer 50% increase in the discount for domestic flights from 1st January 2018

• Heathrow will shave £15 off airport charges for UK fliers – increasing the airport’s existing domestic discount by 50%
• Domestic discount introduced to make it cheaper to fly within the UK and boost domestic flights to Heathrow
• UK passengers set to save nearly £40 million a year and over £750 million over the next 20 years as a result of the discount

LONDON, 04-Jan-2018 — /EuropaWire/ — UK fliers are set to save even more when flying from Heathrow as the airport announced a 50% increase in the discount for domestic flights. From 1st January 2018, passengers flying to any UK destination from Heathrow will have a £15 discount on the airport charges they pay – the biggest discount in the airport’s history and resulting in savings of nearly £40 million annually and over £750 million over the next 20 years.

Heathrow has been a long-time and ardent campaigner for boosting domestic flights at the UK’s hub and last year committed to keeping a discounted domestic passenger charge for at least the next twenty years as long as it is in the public interest. The further reduction in the domestic passenger charge announced today will save passengers even more money while making domestic routes more commercially viable for airlines – encouraging them to add more domestic services. Heathrow is the UK’s global gateway and largest port – ensuring communities across Britain have convenient, reliable access to the hub is critical for connecting exporters with customers around the world and attracting inward tourism and investment.

The domestic discount is one plank in a package of measures Heathrow is implementing to support more flights to UK destinations – ultimately increasing the airport’s domestic connections from 8 today to at least 14 when the airport expands in 2025. Other measures include creating a £10m fund to provide start-up capital for 5 new domestic routes, urging the Government to use new powers after leaving the EU to ring-fence slots at the airport solely for domestic flights and campaigning for the abolition of air passenger duty on domestic flights to save UK passengers up to £225m annually.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said:

“Every corner of our country should be able to benefit from the growth and trade that stems from links to the nation’s hub airport – that’s why Heathrow is making it cheaper to fly within the UK by reducing our domestic passenger charges even further for the second consecutive year. Putting nearly £40 million back into the pockets of British families and businesses each year will help to spur growth in every part of the UK.”

Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Keith Brown said:

“I’m very pleased to see this further reduction in charges, something the Scottish Government has long advocated in our work with Heathrow Airport.

“The fact the airport is going beyond the reduction agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding with the Scottish Government is welcome news for business and leisure passengers, and will help improve Scotland’s connectivity.”

Notes to Editors:

Heathrow’s UK destinations currently include Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle. Airlines like easyJet and Flybe have already expressed interest in connecting many new cities to Heathrow, including Liverpool, Dundee and Newquay to Heathrow.

The full changes to Heathrow’s charging regime which will take place from 1st January 2018 are outlined below:

Heathrow is Europe’s largest airport and one of the world’s top international aviation hubs. As the UK’s global gateway, Heathrow welcomes more than 76 million passengers every year with a commitment to making ‘every journey better’. The airport is home to more than 80 airlines and is Britain’s largest cargo port, helping to drive British trade growth by connecting the nation to more than 190 destinations around the world. Following an investment of more than £11 billion over the last 10 years, Heathrow is currently ranked by passengers as the ‘Best Airport in Western Europe’ for the third year running and the ‘Best Airport for Shopping’ for eight years in a row.

For more information please contact the Heathrow Press Office on 0208 745 7224.

Source: Heathrow

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