An UK-Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) statement yesterday says, Heathrow can retrieve a loss of £300m (€345m) after submitting an application to recover £2.6bn
London's biggest and busiest ,Heathrow airport will be allowed to increase airline fees on a limited basis to help it cross through the coronavirus crisis, the UK's aviation regulator said.
While its complete request will be considered in a wider review , the airport said the decision risks damaging its ability to attract funding.
"The CAA has failed to deliver," Heathrow said in a statement. "This undermines investor confidence in UK-regulated businesses and puts at risk the government's infrastructure agenda."
Europe's busiest airport has seen drastic reduction in passenger numbers, after curbs and lockdowns to control the spread of Covid-19 took over the country, that helped killing the international travel.
Earlier In February, the company said , 2020 was worst and it lost more than £2bn last year, though it is confident to meet the challenges till 2023 through its available liquidity.
Heathrow can't increase the prices randomly. It wanted a boost to its regulatory asset base, the sum not recovered in airport charges that's used in setting price controls.
British Airways owner IAG said,
it was disappointed that the fees were raised at all. "Heathrow is the most expensive hub airport in the world," the company said in a statement.
While the CAA viewed Heathrow's initial request as "disproportionate and not in the interests of consumers," director Paul Smith said that the amount granted reflects the exceptional circumstances facing the airport and will help it cope with "any potential surge in consumer demand later this year".
Heathrow said the CAA should at the very least have helped it cover the cost of regulatory depreciation and that the matter must be addressed in the next regulatory settlement starting in 2022 if it's to remain attractive to investors.
The regulator had rejected the airport's initial application on February 2, saying it would either fold the issue into work on the future settlement or make "a more limited and targeted intervention" now.
Investors of the airport, that includes the Qatar Investment Authority , Spanish builder Ferrovial SA, private-equity firm Alinda Capital Partners and China Investment Corp, had said its plan would have lifted fares by £1.20 per passenger.
