UK airlines respond to Heathrow Airport congestion charge proposal

July 7th, 2017

Commenting on proposals put forward for a congestion charge to be levied on some air passengers driving to Heathrow airport, Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of Airlines UK, the industry body representing UK-registered carriers, said:

“Notwithstanding the fact that much of the pollution is caused by non-Heathrow related congestion, the Government needs to do more to improve public transport to the airport. Whilst access is very good in places, from the West and South, in particular, it is scratchy at best and it seems unfair to penalise people who have no other reasonable way, other than the car, of getting to their destination. Speeding up the delivery of western rail access to Heathrow should certainly be a priority for Government. We need much more consultation on this proposal – its knock-on impact on congestion elsewhere and its effect on consumers. This will, in effect, be another tax on air travel, at a time when we have the highest tax on aviation in the world in the form of Air Passenger Duty.”