The chief executive said that “guaranteed flights” from across the UK, scheduled for the beginning and end of the working day, would be beneficial for the expansion of London’s Heathrow airport.
speaking exclusively to The IndependentJohn Holland-Kaye said: “It’s very important for the UK to have a major, world-class airport here. What I’d like to see is that we guarantee flights from all over the UK, morning and evening, into Heathrow to connect to global markets.”
Heathrow Airport is the most space-restricted major international airport in the world. In 2015, the Davis Commission recommended adding a third runway to increase Heathrow’s capacity by more than 50%.
But the topic is so contentious that lawsuits and Covid – with the resulting collapse in demand due to travel restrictions – have delayed expansion plans.
Currently, Heathrow has connections from only two English airports, Manchester and Newcastle. four Scottish airports, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness; and Belfast City Airport in Northern Ireland.
Many other destinations including Newquay, Liverpool, Leeds Bradford, Teesside, Prestwick and Belfast International have since been linked to Heathrow. But the trend over time is to reduce the UK connection to exploit valuable slots on more profitable routes.
Amsterdam Schiphol is connected to many more UK airports than Heathrow.
Last week Willie Walsh, former British Airways chief executive and director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said available appointments after Flybe’s collapse should go to Loganair, the Scottish airline, to domestic flights.
Holland-Kaye added that the Covid crisis underscored the importance of expansion.
“During the pandemic, we’ve seen how important it is for the UK to be independent in terms of managing trade routes,” he said.
“We saw the opportunity to open up new routes to India that it couldn’t access because of the lack of openings at Heathrow.
“We’ve also seen the danger of telecom dependence [Amsterdam] Schiphol, Paris Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt because the mainland has been cut off three times during the pandemic and the UK cannot depend on its supply chain on overseas hubs which can be cut off for a number of reasons.
“It is absolutely vital to our trade that we have a global hub here and we will execute as quickly as we can.”
But some opponents of runway three say more use should be made of other UK airports so that passengers do not have to change planes at Heathrow.
Paul McGuinness, chair of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, said: “The National Airport Policy Statement is now five years out and Heathrow expansion plans remain inconsistent with our carbon reduction commitments.
“It is time for National Aviation Strategy to finally end the possibility of regional economic opportunities being overlooked by Heathrow’s narrow economic interests.”
The government indicated an increase in domestic flights while cutting taxes.
From April 1st, the air passenger tax on flights within the UK will be halved from £13 to £6.50.
Holland-Kay also gave his counterpart at Aeroports de Paris some advice ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in the French capital – based on his experience at Heathrow during London 2012.
“Make sure you allow the athletes to carry more bags when they leave than you allow them when they arrive,” he said.
“What we found is that, on average, they had an extra bag to check in when they went out, and that was because they used to take their quilts with them when they went out — along with medals and other souvenirs.”
Heathrow’s chief executive announced his intention to step down this year. A successor has not yet been named.
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