Flying at Heathrow will cost ‘significantly more’ due to third runway bid
Heathrow’s bid for a third runway will “significantly” push up the cost of flying from the UK’s biggest airport, a leading aviation expert has warned.
The airport’s expansion will “inevitably” push up ticket fares because it is set to be allowed to hike the fees it charges to airports, Alton Aviation’s Ronan Murphy told CityAM.
Murphy, a director at the aviation consultancy, said that flying from Heathrow “is going to cost you significantly more. That’s inevitable. […] Ultimately we’re the ones that are paying for infrastructure growth”.
Earlier this year, the UK’s aviation regulator said that the airport would be allowed to raise airline fees to recoup the cost of its bid for a third runway.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that Heathrow could recover up to £320m that it had spent so far on proposals for the expansion, with the regulator claiming that this would amount to less than 10p per passenger.
Higher fees ‘inevitable’
But Murphy said this decision “causes concern because the airlines will say, ‘Okay, if you’re going to charge me this and my margin is tiny anyway, I have to pass it on’.
“Ultimately the consumer pays, so I think that’s inevitable,” he added.
Earlier this week, Heathrow hit out at the CAA for allegedly attempting to “take the UK backwards” by allowing rival firms to build its third runway and placing tighter controls on its spending.
A spokesperson for Heathrow said the third runway expansion will bring air fares down, even accounting for any hikes to airline fees.
They said: “Independent analysis is clear – expansion will drive down air fares at the UK’s hub airport through increased competition and we want to work with the CAA and Government to deliver these benefits to passengers and the economy as quickly as possible.”
But Murphy also told CityAM that the travel chaos caused by a feared jet fuel shortage could be less widespread than feared.
“We’ve had the major carriers come out and say their fuel suppliers are securing supply, certainly through the summer period. So I think this risk that airlines are en-masse cancelling flights across Europe and the UK – that’s not going to happen,” he said.
European airlines ‘well protected’
In May, researchers warned that the UK was at “greatest risk” of a jet fuel shortage caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war.
Fears that Brits’ summer holidays could be cancelled prompted ministers to scramble to secure airlines’ access to fuel and temporarily relax “use it or lose it” rules on carriers’ slots at UK airports.
But Murphy said that European airlines are “well protected” by fixed-price contracts and access to oil reserves.
Easyjet and British Airways owner IAG are among the carriers which have sought to play down fears of a jet fuel shortage in recent months.
Murphy said “there’s still very significant risks” around long-term fuel supplies, but said that people “don’t need to be concerned” about their summer holiday plans.
“You’re going to get down to the south of Spain, you’re going to get to France, wherever it is you’re going,” he said.