Neither BA nor any other airline will have a veto on R3. If there is demand for additional capacity at LHR then other airlines will take up whatever slots BA don't want.
Both BA and HAL are acting as quasi-monopolists, in an entirely predictable way. HAL are gold-plating the R3 scheme as they did with T5, and the regulator (CAA) needs to take action to prevent this. Equally BA want to protect their dominant position at LHR, and the same regulator needs to make it clear to BA that they will not have an easy ride. In particular, if BA think that in the absence of R3 they can simply ration demand by putting up air fares (while also failing to improve efficiency and service quality) then the CAA needs to remind BA of the powers it has to impose huge fines for anti-competitive behaviour.
Neither our 'national' carrier nor our leading airport operator is behaving very well, in my view. Only the regulatory authorities can seriously address this, and I'm concerned the current team at the CAA isn't up to the job.
Last edited by BasilBush; 4th Aug 2015 at 14:03.