(ShareCast News) - The chief executive of British Airways owner International Airlines Group on Friday said the group does not support the building of a new runway at London's Heathrow Airport due to the costs the airline would incur.
"We think the costs associated with the third runway are outrageous and certainly from an IAG point of view we will not be supporting it and we will not be paying for it," William Walsh said.
If the expansion is approved, airlines would have to foot the some of the costs of the runway, but Walsh opposed this idea.
"We're not going to support something that increases our costs," he said.
The comments came the same day IAG reported its profits for the second quarter, posting operating profit of $530m, beating forecasts of €494m and 39% higher than the €380m in the same period last year.
BA still seem to be unsure as to whether R3 is a threat or an opportunity. They are terrified of the impact on their inefficient short haul operation that would result from easyJet entering the LHR market, as has been proposed. Either way, BA's emphasis on the costs of R3 might give some hurry up to the CAA in ensuring that HAL isn't just given a blank cheque to build what it likes and then reclaim the costs from airlines/pax. It's about time the CAA (as regulator) paid some attention to the fact that its primary duty is to consumers as opposed to airlines or airport operators. That means both keeping costs down and ensuring greater competition by standing up to the likes of BA who just want to perpetuate their dominant position.
Last edited by BasilBush; 31st Jul 2015 at 12:53.