Major airlines form alliance to fight ‘monopoly’ of BAA

An unprecedented alliance of airline brands has been formed to force an overhaul of the way the UKs biggest airports are regulated.

An “unprecedented” alliance of airline brands has been formed to force an overhaul of the way the UK’s biggest airports are regulated.

Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, Ryanair and BMI have come together to condemn the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and airport operator BAA after increased airport charges were announced. They are being facitly backed by British Airways – meaning that the five biggest carriers in the country are backing the campaign. Smaller airline Flybe has also lent its voice to the outcry.

The alliance is now set to hold talks with Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly before the end of the month to demand the break-up of BAA’s control over airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

The CAA this week allowed BAA to increase its fees to pay for better facilities and more stringent security measures. Charges will rise by 23.5% at Heathrow and 21% at Gatwick.
Airlines fear the money may be used to finance the debts of BAA’s parent company Ferrovial and say the CAA “caved in” to the operator’s demands.

The extra charges are likely to be passed on to customers, say the airlines.

A Virgin Atlantic spokes≠man says: “This is the first time you will have seen these airlines sitting together and it shows how strongly we feel.”

He says the airlines have set aside their differences because they wanted to raise awareness of the “iniquities of the system”, which he described as a “joke”. He called for a set-up similar to that in the US, where terminals compete against each other to attract airlines – adding that Virgin had switched terminals three times in eight years to take advantage of better deals.

BA threw its weight behind the demands, calling for a “root and branch” review of the current system.

BAA, which sold World Duty Free Europe shops to Autogrill for £546.6m this week, had lobbied for even bigger increases in charges and said the review did not recognise the scale of the work it had to carry out at its airports.

Recommended

Samsung checks in at Heathrow Terminal 5

Marketing Week

Samsung is launching a campaign at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to promote its new “personal training phone” miCoach. The outdoor campaign by the handset manufacturer, which is one of the first brands to book one of JC Decaux’s Terminal 5 sites, will be followed by print, digital and experiential advertising. The ads were planned by Cheil […]

Sony BMG back catalogue to be streamed online

Marketing Week

Sony BMG has signed a licensing deal with ad-funded music download service We7 that will see its back catalogue made available to stream online. It is the first major label to sign up with the service, set up by musician Peter Gabriel. We7 claims to be the first free and legal service of its kind […]

Macmillan appoints top marketer following charity merger

Marketing Week

Macmillan Cancer Support has appointed Kate Shanley as its top marketer following a merger with fellow charity Cancerbackup. Shanley, who starts the newly created role with immediate effect, will be tasked with formulating a fresh marketing approach for the charity. She will report to Lynda Thomas and Hilary Cross, who share the director of external […]