SCOTLAND’S two main airports, Glasgow and Edinburgh, are split over plans by Heathrow Airport to reduce the fee it charges airlines for passengers travelling to other UK destinations by one-third from next year.
Cutting the charge from its current £29.59 to £19.59 would help boost regional connections to Britain’s busiest airport, Heathrow bosses claim.
Heathrow is also proposing raising environmental charges to encourage cleaner, quieter planes.
According to Glasgow Airport, the issue of increased competition for slots at Heathrow, which is operating at 99 per cent capacity, is having a “detrimental impact” on the ability to satisfy passenger demand to and from Glasgow.
“If we’re to remain competitive, our connectivity with Heathrow must be maintained, and, where possible, enhanced,” a spokesman said. “It’s for this reason we’ve supported expansion at Heathrow and this announcement is to be welcomed.”
Edinburgh Airport, however, is not convinced that “shifting the deckchairs around” at Heathrow will give Scottish passengers what they want – capacity and resilience. Its preference is for a second runway at Gatwick.
A spokesman said: “We know from our recent history and the break-up of BAA in Scotland that competition benefits passengers.
“That’s why we support the Gatwick solution – it adds competition, resilience and capacity.
“This late and somewhat token intervention from Heathrow delivers on none of these areas.”
Speaking last year, Edinburgh’s chief executive Gordon Dewar said that Gatwick’s plans represented “the most realistic and deliverable proposals in terms of providing short, medium and long-term capacity for growth”.
But Heathrow’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said the airport is “committed to making sure that businesses across Britain can benefit from the connections to growth markets that only the UK’s hub can provide, while incentivising only the quietest and cleanest planes to operate from Heathrow”.
Holland-Kaye added: “The proposal to cut passenger charges by one-third for domestic services will help us continue to drive the tourism, exports, inbound tourism and foreign direct investment that supports economic growth across the whole of the UK.”
Charges for passengers flying to European destinations, meanwhile, will be cut by £5 to £24.59.
While Heathrow hopes the reductions, which would take effect on January 1, would encourage fuller planes and make more efficient use of limited capacity, airlines are not obliged to pass on the savings to passengers. However, it is expected that many would.
Heathrow’s review of charges is part of efforts to keep existing domestic routes commercially attractive to airlines and meet the recommendations of the National Connectivity Taskforce.
Last month, Heathrow said it would introduce more routes to domestic destinations if it is allowed to expand and build a controversial third runway.
Figures from Heathrow suggest that 1.7 million passengers connecting with long-haul flights in Amsterdam, Dubai, Frankfurt and Paris could potentially be persuaded to connect via the London airport instead if charges were reduced.
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