Post by oldmike on Jul 21, 2007 11:25:56 GMT 7
Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport
By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman
Published: 21 July 2007
As millions of holidaymakers seek to escape Britain's miserable summer by flying abroad this weekend, a perfect storm of delays, under-investment and environmental protest is brewing over Heathrow airport.
Today, the world's busiest international airport will open its doors to the first of 10 million passengers who will pour through its terminals in the coming crucial eight-week period, amid warnings of renewed travel chaos and reeling from the departure of its chief executive. Tony Douglas, who left his post a month after admitting Heathrow was "bursting at the seams" , leaves behind an airport that is the subject of growing criticism from airlines and passengers over delays caused by security checks and the slow modernisation of its creaking infrastructure by its owners, British Airports Authority (BAA) .
One senior airline executive told The Independent: "The blunt truth is some of the facilities at Heathrow are now world-beatingly bad. Terminal 2 is a shambles and money is not being spent fast enough. The airport is in danger of sending out a message it is not fit for purpose. And it is the passengers, the airlines and the UK economy paying the price."
The problems for BAA will be intensified when a protest camp is set up next to Heathrow aimed at highlighting the environmental impact of aviation and the threat to hundreds of homes from a proposed third runway. Organisers have vowed direct action next month to maximise the impact of their demonstration but deny it will affect passengers.
BAA described any plans to disrupt the airport as "extremely irresponsible".
But with Heathrow receiving 68 million passengers a year, half as many again as its intended capacity of 45 million, it is far more likely that delays will come from within the airport itself as it battles to maintain morale.
The Independent has been told that Mr Douglas, who also said the airport was "at times ... held together by sticking plaster" is one of four senior executives to have left BAA's Heathrow team in the past year, along with a significant number of middle-ranking managers.
Up to 220,000 people a day will pass through the airport in the next two months, putting massive pressure on its ability to process baggage and security-screen passengers.
British Airways said yesterday that it had cleared a backlog of 20,000 bags caused by recent bad weather and security alerts. Meanwhile, the weather created more chaos yesterday as the airport said it had cancelled 141 flights because of the torrential rain that swept across the UK.
The airline, Heathrow's biggest operator, admitted it was vulnerable to further difficulties because hand luggage restrictions mean it is carrying 15 per cent more baggage in the holds of its aircraft. Despite the Government's intention to increase the baggage allowance to two bags, it could still be months before the measure is introduced.
Stringent security checks imposed last summer after the alleged bomb plot using liquid explosives brought Heathrow to a grinding halt. Despite recruiting 500 extra security staff, the airport is not meeting its target to process all passengers in security lanes within five minutes. BAA said 97 per cent of passengers during its last holiday peak in Easter were processed within 10 minutes but Mr Douglas said he could not guarantee another " extraordinary event" would not cause chaos.
Passenger groups said the lack of any spare capacity at the airport meant it was disproportionately vulnerable to such incidents.
A spokesman for the Air Transport Users Council said: "It is tough every summer at Heathrow and it just gets harder with the security problems. I think all passengers can really do this year is hope nothing happens outside the airport and everything runs smoothly inside. There is no leeway when things go wrong."
BAA said yesterday that it expected many of Heathrow's problems to be eased with the opening next March of the £4.2bn Terminal 5, which will handle all BA flights and relieve congestion at the four other terminals. BAA, which was bought for £16bn by the Spanish group Ferrovial, has earmarked a further £6bn for revamping those buildings, including the demolition or refurbishment of Terminals 1 and 2 to create a new hub with a capacity of 30 million. But the new facilities will not be finished before 2016.
BAA is pressing its regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, to allow it to maintain the fees it charges airlines to use Heathrow. It has warned that the airport's capacity problems it fills 98.5 per cent of its flight slots means it risks losing its dominance to competitors such as Paris Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol in Amsterdam, which run at about 70 per cent capacity.
Airlines argue that BAA, which is also facing an inquiry into whether its monopoly of London's three airports should be broken, has already made enough money to fund the required investment. BAA made profits of £620m last year.
A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said: "We have some sympathy for the owners but, compared to other airports, there is chronic under-investment despite BAA making substantial profits year after year. They have not kept up with the development of other airports."
Heathrow in figures
£620m BAA profits last year
68 million Passengers received per year
45 million Intended capacity
500,000 passengers this weekend
10 million Passengers estimated for the next 10 weeks
CHANGI HANDLED 32,430,856 PASSENGERS LAST YEAR.
By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman
Published: 21 July 2007
As millions of holidaymakers seek to escape Britain's miserable summer by flying abroad this weekend, a perfect storm of delays, under-investment and environmental protest is brewing over Heathrow airport.
Today, the world's busiest international airport will open its doors to the first of 10 million passengers who will pour through its terminals in the coming crucial eight-week period, amid warnings of renewed travel chaos and reeling from the departure of its chief executive. Tony Douglas, who left his post a month after admitting Heathrow was "bursting at the seams" , leaves behind an airport that is the subject of growing criticism from airlines and passengers over delays caused by security checks and the slow modernisation of its creaking infrastructure by its owners, British Airports Authority (BAA) .
One senior airline executive told The Independent: "The blunt truth is some of the facilities at Heathrow are now world-beatingly bad. Terminal 2 is a shambles and money is not being spent fast enough. The airport is in danger of sending out a message it is not fit for purpose. And it is the passengers, the airlines and the UK economy paying the price."
The problems for BAA will be intensified when a protest camp is set up next to Heathrow aimed at highlighting the environmental impact of aviation and the threat to hundreds of homes from a proposed third runway. Organisers have vowed direct action next month to maximise the impact of their demonstration but deny it will affect passengers.
BAA described any plans to disrupt the airport as "extremely irresponsible".
But with Heathrow receiving 68 million passengers a year, half as many again as its intended capacity of 45 million, it is far more likely that delays will come from within the airport itself as it battles to maintain morale.
The Independent has been told that Mr Douglas, who also said the airport was "at times ... held together by sticking plaster" is one of four senior executives to have left BAA's Heathrow team in the past year, along with a significant number of middle-ranking managers.
Up to 220,000 people a day will pass through the airport in the next two months, putting massive pressure on its ability to process baggage and security-screen passengers.
British Airways said yesterday that it had cleared a backlog of 20,000 bags caused by recent bad weather and security alerts. Meanwhile, the weather created more chaos yesterday as the airport said it had cancelled 141 flights because of the torrential rain that swept across the UK.
The airline, Heathrow's biggest operator, admitted it was vulnerable to further difficulties because hand luggage restrictions mean it is carrying 15 per cent more baggage in the holds of its aircraft. Despite the Government's intention to increase the baggage allowance to two bags, it could still be months before the measure is introduced.
Stringent security checks imposed last summer after the alleged bomb plot using liquid explosives brought Heathrow to a grinding halt. Despite recruiting 500 extra security staff, the airport is not meeting its target to process all passengers in security lanes within five minutes. BAA said 97 per cent of passengers during its last holiday peak in Easter were processed within 10 minutes but Mr Douglas said he could not guarantee another " extraordinary event" would not cause chaos.
Passenger groups said the lack of any spare capacity at the airport meant it was disproportionately vulnerable to such incidents.
A spokesman for the Air Transport Users Council said: "It is tough every summer at Heathrow and it just gets harder with the security problems. I think all passengers can really do this year is hope nothing happens outside the airport and everything runs smoothly inside. There is no leeway when things go wrong."
BAA said yesterday that it expected many of Heathrow's problems to be eased with the opening next March of the £4.2bn Terminal 5, which will handle all BA flights and relieve congestion at the four other terminals. BAA, which was bought for £16bn by the Spanish group Ferrovial, has earmarked a further £6bn for revamping those buildings, including the demolition or refurbishment of Terminals 1 and 2 to create a new hub with a capacity of 30 million. But the new facilities will not be finished before 2016.
BAA is pressing its regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, to allow it to maintain the fees it charges airlines to use Heathrow. It has warned that the airport's capacity problems it fills 98.5 per cent of its flight slots means it risks losing its dominance to competitors such as Paris Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol in Amsterdam, which run at about 70 per cent capacity.
Airlines argue that BAA, which is also facing an inquiry into whether its monopoly of London's three airports should be broken, has already made enough money to fund the required investment. BAA made profits of £620m last year.
A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said: "We have some sympathy for the owners but, compared to other airports, there is chronic under-investment despite BAA making substantial profits year after year. They have not kept up with the development of other airports."
Heathrow in figures
£620m BAA profits last year
68 million Passengers received per year
45 million Intended capacity
500,000 passengers this weekend
10 million Passengers estimated for the next 10 weeks
CHANGI HANDLED 32,430,856 PASSENGERS LAST YEAR.