Airlines ask BAA to cut back on Gatwick improvements
26.05.09
BA, easyJet and Ryanair have urged BAA to cut back work on its £900m improvement scheme at Gatwick Airport, warning that the project is futile in the face of dwindling passenger numbers, the Guardian reports. The airlines are reported to have demanded curbs in the programme because they will ultimately have to pass on the costs to recession-hit passengers through fare increases.
In a letter to BAA executives at Gatwick, seen by the Guardian, the airlines say that the business case for spending hundreds of millions of pounds on new facilities was ‘unproven’. BAA intends to spend £900m improving the airport over the next five years. But the airlines' letter suggested that a new owner (the airport is currently for sale) may have cheaper investment plans. The letter adds: ‘It would therefore be pointless to come to a decision about future developments which are not agreed with the future owner of the airport.’
Top of the airline's hit list is reported to be a £200m aircraft pier in the north terminal, needed to reach a target of transferring 95% of passengers to aircraft via piers instead of coaches. The airlines' want it axed, whereas BAA say that it is a customer led change, with passengers wanting to walk from the terminal on to the plane, rather than taking a bus.
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