BAA should scrap 5000 flights to reduce Heathrow delays

BAA, Heathrow airport’s owner, has been told by a prominent business group that it should scrap close to 5000 flights annually at Heathrow in order to ease congestion at Britain’s largest airport.

London First has said that action is needed immediately to end flight delays at Heathrow, as a third runway that has been proposed would not be ready until 2020. The lobby group for London businesses has said that Heathrow’s owner, BAA, could significant reduce delays by reducing its flight by 1% - which would be equivalent to around 4800 departures and arrivals.

Baroness Valentine, the chief executive of London First, has said that Heathrow has been turned from a “silk purse to a sow’s ear”. She continued: “While proposals for Runway 3 will undeniably address capacity issues in the long term, we need a better Heathrow now.” London First is proposing a reduction in flights as a means of improving service standards at the country’s largest facility.

The recently-issued report by the lobby group has also recommended that BAA should delegate the responsibility for security queue monitoring. This is currently shared by the Civil Aviation Authority and BAA, and the recommendation is to shift the responsibility to one organisation. A recommendation has also been put forth to dock revenue received from landing fees if passengers continue to receive poor service.

www.london-first.co.uk