BATA responds to airport capacity announcement

October 25th, 2016

British Air Transport Association media release

Immediate release

Responding to the announcement made this morning on expansion at Heathrow airport, Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of the British Air Transport Association (BATA), the trade body for UK airlines, said:

“We welcome this long overdue announcement – and agree with the Government’s decision that additional capacity at Heathrow offers greater potential economic and social advantages than expansion at Gatwick. Tough discussions now have to be had by all parties – and our airline members will be closely involved in these next stages of preparatory work. The needs of passengers, cargo customers and local communities must be met.

“Our members are clear that the cost of expansion that they and their customers pay for is key and we will be scrutinising this decision and future, more detailed, plans. Heathrow is the most expensive hub airport in the world – and airports are not funded by the taxpayer, but by passengers. Therefore any new infrastructure must be cost effective. We must ensure that it is affordable and that the price paid by customers does not increase. Today’s passengers must not pay for capacity that will not be operational until the mid-2020s.

“In short, we need the right solution at the right price, at the right time, in order to meet the needs of customers.”  

ENDS