IAG CEO Willie Walsh: A Sad Day for Heathrow’s Customers

London, UK, 07-10-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — With today’s final price proposal for Heathrow, the Civil Aviation Authority has left the airport’s customers with the burden of forking out almost an extra £1bn over the next five years, IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said today.

He said the CAA had neglected its new primary statutory duty to further the interests of passengers by endorsing a settlement that allows the UK’s monopoly hub to ignore its inefficiencies and over-reward investors by imposing excessive charges on users.

Willie Walsh, head of British Airways’ parent group, said: “It is a bad day for our customers who have been let down by the CAA. With this settlement, Heathrow will continue to levy charges well above other major hub airports.

“As the only hub airport in the UK, Heathrow exerts monopoly power over its users. Like other airlines at Heathrow, we cannot move to a better-run UK hub that offers customers real value for money. No such alternative exists today but these excessive charges combined with a complacent management team at Heathrow make an alternative hub look more attractive and more realistic.”

“We want a Heathrow that is efficiently run, fairly rewarded and priced comparably with other airports. We will carefully consider our next steps.”

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