Heathrow Airport Blog

Heathrow is 'inferior to Calcutta'

2011-04-08T16:41:37Z

Heathrow, widely known as one of the busiest airports in the world, is also one of the least popular with travellers, according to a report produced by the Airports Council International (ACI). The document, which was leaked to a number of newspapers, revealed that the London hub is not as attractive to passengers as Calcutta Airport in India, Moscow Airport in Russia, and Amsterdam Schiphol in Holland.

The ACI’s poll is an annual event, but the results are usually kept private. The only people who are allowed to see the report are involved with the airports themselves, such as the leaders of the British Airports Authority (BAA). ACI spokeswoman, Nancy Gautier, told the Sydney Morning Herald that the survey is paid for by the 146 airports featured in the rankings. The data is used to gauge levels of customer satisfaction.

Heathrow’s miserable performance can be attributed to its poor “ambience”, which likely refers to the overall quality of the environment inside the hub, and the long queues at security checkpoints. Frequent closures in December and ongoing capacity problems at the airport have also had a detrimental effect on Heathrow’s popularity.

In response to the ACI poll, BAA representative, Andrew Teacher, claimed that two-thirds of travellers are in fact, delighted with the London hub. “The facts show Heathrow as the second-best airport in Europe.” Mr. Teacher’s comments are at odds with previous airport surveys, which saw Heathrow voted the worst hub for delays in 2007, the worst for shopping in 2010, and the rather more ignominious title, worst airport on earth, in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Coming in at 99th in the ACI’s poll of world airports seems like an achievement in comparison.

The BAA can at least take solace in knowing that Heathrow is more popular than Frankfurt Airport in Germany (126th place), Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in France (137th), and Melbourne Airport in Australia (104th). The BAA’s other hub in London, Stansted, took 111th place, behind Gatwick in 106th position. At the other end of the scale, Singapore Changi, which won 25 awards in 2010 alone, is the world’s favourite airport, closely followed by Seoul Incheon Airport in South Korea, and Hong Kong International in China.

APD will not rise in 2011, says Chancellor

2011-04-05T16:35:58Z

Air Passenger Duty (APD), a controversial tax that can add hundreds of pounds to the cost of a long-haul flight, will not be increased again until April 2012 at the earliest.

However, the announcement, made by the Chancellor, George Osborne, is unlikely to prompt many celebrations – APD remains severe, and future rises in the flight levy are expected to be very high. The much-publicised freeze is therefore, anything but a genuine attempt to reduce the cost of Britain’s flight taxes, widely recognised as among the highest in the world.

Reaction to the freeze has been apathetic. Simon Buck, of the British Air Transport Association, referred to the development as “the least that the Chancellor could have done". Mr. Buck said that the alternative (increasing APD) would have been “entirely wrong and counter-productive". Unfortunately for travellers, the government wants to earn an extra £1.5bn from APD within the next four years, meaning that the duty must increase significantly from next year.

APD is very unpopular. Manchester Airport recently complained to the government about the deleterious effect of the tax on jobs. The hub’s owner, Manchester Airports Group, remains concerned that any further rise in flight duty could force major airlines to abandon the regional airport for others on the continent.

Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, has levelled a number of colourful rants at the tax, while several European countries, such as Holland, have slashed the cost of APD, or removed their version of the levy altogether. Yet, despite this almost universal recognition of the damage caused by APD, the UK’s rates have increased by 325% since 2005.

Major travel authority, ABTA, has previously asked the government to consider a ‘per plane’ tax as an alternative to APD. However, George Osborne rubbished the plan in March, believing it to be illegal. ABTA claims that per plane duties would take account of a plane’s efficiency, rather than throwing all aircraft into rigid ‘tax bands’, based on distance travelled.

The recent Budget also introduced a new levy on private jets, in an attempt to bolster the UK economy. The move has been criticised by entrepreneur and Labour peer, Lord Sugar, who called it a “window-dressing publicity stunt". Lord Sugar intimated that the amount of money raised by the jet tax would be insufficient to influence the economy at even a local level.

'Snow timetables' will limit chaos, says MP

2011-03-23T16:34:12Z

The Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, has said that airlines based at Heathrow Airport must cooperate with the British Airports Authority (BAA) during periods of heavy snowfall. The MP claimed that several airlines – which have not been named – attempted to ‘force’ their aircraft into vacant takeoff slots, causing confusion for passengers, and headaches for airport workers.

In future, says Mr. Hammond, airlines must adhere to emergency 'snow timetables' during bad weather, in a bid to avoid the “unacceptable spectacle” of holidaymakers arriving for flights that have either been cancelled or delayed. The move will effectively allow the BAA to ‘shepherd’ 95 world airlines, including Heathrow’s largest carrier, British Airways (BA).

According to the London Evening Standard, BA terminated all flights from the London hub on December 18 2010, after snowfall brought the country to a chilly standstill. However, the announcement was made against the wishes of the BAA, which felt that Heathrow would be able to remain open, despite rapidly worsening weather conditions. The suspension of the flag-carrier’s flights stranded hundreds of passengers in Terminal 5, but Philip Hammond and BA’s bitter rival, Virgin Atlantic, have since directed blame at the BAA for the chaos that befell Heathrow at the end of last year.

Mr. Hammond said that the snow timetable plan has been “signed off” by airlines. The claim seems to go against earlier opinions of the scheme, which was originally proposed by Heathrow’s chief executive, Colin Matthews. The Telegraph quoted an ‘insider’ saying, “What planet is Colin Matthews on?” The anonymous source noted that the plan would only work for a handful of major carriers. Similarly, the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK said that the ability to force emergency timetables should “not be considered as an alternative to an effective snow plan”.

December’s weather was arguably the most disruptive of recent years, and rivalled the volcanic ash crisis of early 2010 for causing chaos in the aviation industry. Experts claim that delayed flights, cancelled trains, and icy roads cost Britain £280m per day.

Heathrow boss grilled over disruption

2011-03-16T14:41:40Z

Earlier this week, the chief executive of the British Airports Authority (BAA), Colin Matthews, told the House of Commons that “too much snow” was the reason for a spate of closures at Heathrow Airport during December 2010. Mr. Matthews, who is also the current head of the London airport, then apologised for the “thousands of Christmas holidays” that were disrupted by delays and cancellations.

Whilst the conclusion may seem obvious, the volume of snow that fell at the end of last year was greater than officials at Heathrow Airport had expected or prepared for, rendering the hub’s contingency plans useless. However, representatives of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, who were also invited to the recent hearing, said that the BAA exacerbated the problem by failing to communicate effectively with Heathrow’s resident airlines.

The international hub was forced to cancel 1,280 flights on Sunday December 19, forcing some passengers to sleep on the terminal floor. Mr. Matthews claimed that persistent snowfall had “totally overwhelmed” Heathrow Airport. Neighbouring hub, Gatwick, was similarly affected, but managed to resist the frequent closures that plagued its larger rival.

Mr. Matthews refused to take his annual bonus as recompense for the chaos, but a recent pay rise, equating to an extra £151,000 per year, will surely heal the cracks in the chief executive’s piggy bank. The wage boost, which came just a few days after Mr. Matthews delivered his apology to the House of Commons, is made up of pension payments, according to the BAA.

The BAA lost around £24m due to festive blizzards, with all but £4m of the figure lost at Heathrow Airport. The BAA has pledged to “do better in future”, but the promise is likely a result of a government proposal to fine or otherwise punish airport owners for failing to prevent disruption to travellers.

BA crew banks on Heathrow chaos

2011-02-08T14:24:33Z

British Airways’ (BA) cabin crew will employ “guerrilla tactics” in their long-running battle against their overlords, according to the Telegraph. Whilst the term invokes images of disguised partisans ambushing enemy convoys, BA’s disgruntled employees will not be donning their balaclavas. Instead, the 10,000 members of the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (BASSA) will wage a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign on the airline’s chief executive, Willie Walsh.

The largest branch of workers union, Unite, BASSA, seems to have realised that conventional work stoppages, pickets, and media circuses are insufficient to sway Willie Walsh from his cause: namely, refusing to reinstate full travel perks to striking employees. The flag-carrying airline survived 22 days of strike action last year, as part of one of the longest industrial disputes in recent history. The airline lost £150m, but BASSA’s inability to break down BA’s defences resulted in an arguably worse fate for the union: 2,560 people quit BASSA between mid-2009 and the end of 2010, as confidence in the branch collapsed.

In what could be a last stand for BASSA members, the union is now proposing a different approach to industrial action. Walkouts will be voted for, and announced, as normal, but the order to strike will be withdrawn “at the last minute”. The ensuing confusion could throw airports served by BA into chaos, as the carrier will be forced to contend with two groups of people (strikers and volunteers) reporting for work – and be legally obliged to pay them both for the trouble.

BASSA has also suggested that members work to rule, a move that could result in the end of ‘goodwill activities’, such as helping a passenger with their luggage. Whilst merely spiteful on the surface, Michael Ryley of law firm, Pinsent Masons, notes that goodwill is an integral part of customer-employee relations, and refusing to cooperate goes “beyond” working to rule. “It is a dangerous line to take,” Mr Ryley told the Telegraph.

Commenting on BASSA’s plans, a BA spokesperson was unfazed, saying “We are confident that our contingency plans will allow us to operate normal timetables at Gatwick and London City.” At Heathrow, BA expects its long-haul flights to be unaffected. However, some short-haul flights could be subject to delays.

UK airports targeted by terror scouts

2010-12-29T14:37:13Z

The snowy conditions and extended closures of many of Britain's busiest airports over the hectic festive period have grabbed the headlines over the past couple of weeks, meaning that one particularly disturbing story relating to the aviation industry has been pushed into the shadows slightly. However, with terrorism and security fears never far from the forefront of airline bosses' and tourists' minds, it seems likely that reports of this sort are set to be the standard as 2011 gets underway.

The latest security alert revolved around the use of terror scouts in the UK, with individuals apparently sent to airports across the nation with instructions to test the level of airport security. Counter-terrorism officials have warned that regional airports may have become the targets for dummy bomb runs, with some airports reporting suspect packages passing through their scanners that seem to have similar profiles to those of improvised explosive devices.

Although nobody has been charged for possessing these suspect packages, since they were examined by bomb disposal experts and found to be harmless, fears are increasing around Whitehall that security levels at major regional air hubs around the country are being assessed by terror scouts in order to identify points of weakness that can be exploited as part of widespread terror plots.

BAA has previously reacted to such threats by urging the government to make security procedures at airports more unpredictable so that terror scouts can't report back specific, reliable information, whilst the airport owner is also thought to be considering the introduction of a widespread system designed to train staff to identify suspicious passengers passing through security.