Originally Posted by
southside bobby
The latest tax at LHR is referred to as a "UK Exceptional Regulatory Charge" which is misleading is it not?
As I understand it ...
LHR charges are set by the regulator, otherwise they would be in a monopoly position. In Covid, they have lobbied the regulator that they need to have increased charges to recover their loss in this period, which the regulator has accepted. I would not have. LHR will be in the best position to recover quicker than any other airport, as the slots will rapidly fill back up before anywhere else, including transfers from other airports, Gatwick in particular of course. Now if the Exceptional Charge had been levied at Heathrow, collected by the regulator and used to disburse to the other worse-off airports in compensation, I could see some merit in that. But no, it's going straight out of the door again to Ferrovial and their fellow-traveller investors who just saw Heathrow as a Cash Cow opportunity.
Has the Exceptional Charge been given a time limit, say one or two years?