Heathrow airport has blamed expensive building costs, its constrained area and large numbers of long-haul flights for its high fees.
Airlines say Heathrow has the highest charges in the world – an accusation not challenged by the airport.
The justification appears in a letter sent by Heathrow’s chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, to the Transport Select Committee. The airport’s CEO appeared before MPs on the committee earlier this month to explain the shutdown of Heathrow on 21 March after a fire in an electricity substation.
Also appearing at the session was Nigel Wicking, chief executive of the Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee. He said at the time: “It is the most expensive airport in the world with regard to passenger charges. From our perspective, that means that we should have the best service and the best infrastructure.”
In response, Mr Woldbye has written to the committee chair, Ruth Cadbury MP, explaining the reasons for Heathrow’s high fees. He insists London is “the most expensive place in the world to build” and cites a comparison with Madrid, which he said was less than half as expensive.
He writes: “Heathrow also faces unique challenges which push up costs for airport users. One factor is that the airport’s small physical footprint means a lot of our infrastructure has to be underground or built in a unique way, increasing the cost.
“We are also the busiest two-runway airport in the world, meaning the intensity of our operating environment is comparatively more complex and makes it much harder to make targeted improvements and investment while remaining operational.
“Heathrow also has a higher proportion of long-haul flying relative to all our comparator airports, which means unique requirements for our terminal and runway infrastructure: more aircraft stands and taxiway infrastructure, more baggage system capacity, larger and more complex departures facilities because people arrive earlier for long-haul flying than short haul.”
The airport’s chief executive also cites “the strict UK security requirements which limits supplier choice” and “the unique and complicated governance our regulatory framework required over capital delivery”.
A spokesperson for Heathrow Reimagined – a campaigning group comprising airlines and businesses around the airport – said: “Heathrow’s justification for its high charges conveniently overlooks the primary reason it is the most expensive airport in the world: a flawed regulatory model that actively encourages inefficient overspend.
“Now is the time for the CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] to investigate what has gone wrong and to address the root causes before passengers and airlines are locked into higher charges for decades to come.”
A source close to the Heathrow Reimagined campaign indicated the group will provide the CAA what it says is proof of Heathrow’s spending inefficiency – even after adjusting for the cost of construction in London.
Heathrow sources say fees have fallen by 19 per cent in real terms since 2014 and that airlines and the CAA review and approve spending by the airport.
Mr Woldbye also tackles the claim that Heathrow bosses overreacted in closing the airport completely on 21 March – apart from a handful of arrivals and departures late in the day.
Representing the airlines, Nigel Wicking told MPs: “We realised fairly early on that T5 and the runway were available, and those flights could have been brought in. Even if we had to manually operate those flights and receive them appropriately that way, that could have been done.
“Certainly, in terms of resource, we had checks in with Border Force during the day, and they had full resource capability and availability to handle operations coming in.”
But the letter sent by Heathrow insists: “The steps taken on 21 March were entirely necessary to ensure the safety of passengers and colleagues, and the security of the UK, including maintaining the integrity of the border.”
The closure cost airlines up to £100m in lost revenue, additional costs and customer care.
