The directive was given to Heathrow to reduce passenger expenses once more.
After demand for flights has recovered from pandemic lows, the aviation authority in the UK has taken action.
After the demand for flying recovered from the pandemic faster than anticipated, and airlines successfully lobbied against a substantial increase in charges, Heathrow airport will be forced to cut its landing fees.
The United Kingdom’s aviation authority stated on Wednesday that landing fees at the United Kingdom’s hub airport should be reduced from the current amount of £31.57 per passenger to the amount of $25.43 beginning in 2019.
The majority of the time, increased ticket prices are how the passengers themselves cover the costs. After the pandemic and the resulting drop in passenger numbers, Heathrow and the airlines had a long argument about whether or not the airport should be allowed to raise its prices. This dispute lasted for years.
Heathrow asked to be able to charge much higher fees, up to £40 per passenger and warned that investment in the airport could be at risk if this request was not granted.
But in a dispute that is getting more heated, airlines have accused the airport of raising prices and of purposely underestimating the rate of recovery in its passenger forecasts in order to get a better price settlement from the governing body.
Industry leaders have warned that the dispute could go on for a while, and both Heathrow and the airlines have been given six weeks to appeal the decision to the Competition and Markets Authority, which is in charge of keeping things fair in the market.
The Civil Aviation Authority made a definitive decision for pricing in the regulatory period between 2022 and 2026, and that decision was represented by the new set of charges that were published on Wednesday. Over the course of the previous two years, the CAA had issued a number of recommendations and intermediate prices.
The CAA has said that the fees will stay around £25 in 2025 and 2026, making the average fee for the whole regulatory period £27.49. This is because there will be an increase in prices in 2022 and 2023.
In the summer before, the regulatory body had proposed an average fare of £28.39 over the period, with a charge of £26.31 in the last year, 2026. But they lowered it when they thought about how quickly the number of passengers was going up and how the economy as a whole was doing, with high inflation.
