Virgin Atlantic withdraws support for Heathrow's third runway

Virgin Atlantic has withdrawn support for Heathrow's third runway plans amid an ongoing row over the cost of flying from Britain's biggest airport.

The carrier had been a major funder of airline expansion before the pandemic. But on Monday its chief executive, Shai Weiss, slammed Heathrow's proposal to raise landing fees by 120% and called on aviation regulator CAA to reform a 'broken' system and "pay greater attention to the abuse of power by a de facto monopolistic airport".

He added: "In the meantime, it is difficult to see how the expansion to Heathrow may be supported."

CAA said this summer Heathrow will be allowed to raise charges by 56% next year to over £30 per passenger , but is expected to reduce them by 2026 - a proposal which Heathrow said "underestimated" the need for investment.

Weiss said the plan to 'Heathrow to increase the charges was "great for the airport and its mostly foreign shareholders" - including Qatar and the Chinese sov foreign wealth fund - but "a bad deal for consumers, airlines and the UK economy".< /p>

Speaking at the Airlines 2022 conference in central London on Monday, Weiss said that alongside other carriers, "we have fought long and hard to ensure that the CAA uses its powers to ensure this does not happen and have encouraged the UK Government to pay greater attention to the abuse of power by a de facto monopoly airport".

The row escalated after a difficult summer in which Heathrow predicted a drop in demand, then blamed airlines for not having enough staff to accommodate all flights, imposing a cap of 100,000pa ssagers per day.

Weiss added, "It's not just about the next price control period in four years. Everyone in this room will recognize the damage to consumer confidence caused by summer disruptions.

"A repeat of this in the summer of 2023 is entirely avoidable if forecasts honest and accurate passenger records are being used now for resource planning and building resilience.”

Appealing to the CAA and the UK Government, he said: "The regulatory framework and process simply doesn't work. It's broken and needs reform."

Questioned afterwards, Weiss told the Guardian he would support further expansion of the airport, including the controversial third runway, if the conditions were met, including lower charges so that it "remains competitive, consumers are protected", as well as a "massive renovation" of the Heathrow Terminal 3 where Virgin is based.

While the airline had been one of the biggest cheerleaders on the track, Weiss said there was “no more unequivocal support”.

He ruled out a return to Gatwick, however. , which Virgin left during Covid, saying there was "no connectivity". Weiss said the carrier has become more efficient since concentrating all of its operations at one London airport.

John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow told the Guardian it expected to continue "to have a constructive relationship and conversations" with Virgin, and that Terminal 3 redevelopment or a move to the new Terminal 2 was in Virgin's medium-term plans. the airport.

At Heathrow The spokesperson said: 'To provide the airport service that passengers expect, two things are necessary: ​​that our regulator gives us the capacity to invest in the airport; and for all airport operators...