BAA courts controversy over landing fee hike

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Executives from the world's largest airlines have slammed BAA's decision to increase landing charges at London Heathrow airport, following the group's announcement of pre-tax profits of £524m ($859m) for the year to March 31.

Executives from the world's largest airlines have slammed BAA's decision to increase landing charges at London Heathrow airport, following the group's announcement of pre-tax profits of £524m ($859m) for the year to March 31. Gathered in Washington for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) World Air Transport Summit, airlines expressed dismay at the lack of effective economic regulation of UK airports amid the "worst crisis in the history of the aviation industry".

According to IATA, airlines pay over $40bn to airports and air traffic service providers. TACA Airlines ceo and a member of the IATA board of governors Federico Bloch asked the World Air Transport Summit to consider an alternative charging scheme whereby all airport charges are paid directly by passengers to make airports accountable for their costs to travellers, the ultimate consumer of their services.

"The lack of effective regulation of a private monopoly as important as BAA is outrageous," said IATA director-general and ceo Giovanni Bisignani. "BAA is extremely profitable at current fee levels even as the entire industry is reeling from a disastrous and unprecedented combination of crises. There is no justification for the increase in charges when the focus of the entire industry is on cost reduction."

At yesterday's IATA annual general meeting, the group association pinned its hopes of a recovery on the Washington Declaration, which calls on governments to implement effective economic regulation of airport and air traffic service companies, claiming that such businesses often operate under monopolistic conditions.