25 February 2014
Heathrow Airport is planning to cut a fifth of its core workforce despite turning its first profit since 2006, reports The Daily Telegraph.
The airport is undergoing a ‘major’ restructuring to cut costs, said the
Telegraph.
This is in order to meet what Heathrow has previously described as a ‘draconian’ ruling by the Civil Aviation Authority that it must reduce charges for airlines in real terms from April.
Colin Matthews, Heathrow’s chief executive, said the cuts are likely to affect around 200 staff but no front-line roles, such as security, will be affected.
Results out yesterday showed that Heathrow had swung to a £426m pre-tax profit last year from a £33m loss previously, helped by the £1.5bn sale last February of Stansted.
Heathrow employs 7,000 people in total but 1,000 of those roles are part of its ‘central’ head office structure, which is the focus of the restructuring, said the
Telegraph.
Matthews told the
Telegraph: ‘We are talking about people who used to work in our headquarters.
‘We used to be a company that ran more airports.
‘We have been reducing the costs and we need to do so significantly now to get in line with the amount of money we are allowed to make from airlines.’
From April, Heathrow’s airport charges will be reduced in real terms by 1.5% below the rate of inflation every year until 2019.
The airport is examining whether to appeal against the CAA’s ruling but has already started to push through a cost-cutting programme, which has also involved management agreeing to pay freezes, said the
Telegraph.
Apparently they make around £ 21 per passenger from "aviation" related charges plus £ 6.80 from parking, shops etc