London airports cost airline £600m a year

London airports cost airline £600m a year

BRITISH Airways chief executive Rod Eddington has launched a scathing attack on the future of UK aviation, claiming overcrowding, delays and poor infrastructure at Heathrow and Gatwick airports cost the carrier more than £600 million a year.

Speaking at an Aviation Club lunch in London last week, Eddington said Heathrow had forfeited its place as the “pre-eminent airport in Europe”, and by 2010, it would not even be seventh on the list of top worldwide gateways.

Eddington added: “Flight delays in Europe alone cost airlines £2.5 billion a year.

“BA’s share of that at our London airports is about £100 million a year.”

He added that the cost of splitting operations between Gatwick and Heathrow is about £500 million annually.

Focusing his address on the need for a fifth terminal at Heathrow, Eddington said airports in Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt were taking traffic away from the UK.

“Demand for air travel in Britain has nearly trebled since 1975, yet Heathrow – our national strategic asset – is operating with the same runway capacity now as it was 25 years ago.”

A Government decision on the politically sensitive fifth terminal at Heathrow is expected to be made shortly after the general election.