MANCHESTER 1

[Bagso]

Article from the FT

He is either unbelievably pompous and a complete imbecile alternatively its a smart way of dismissing your opponents! ie Manchester, with some misinformation in the national press!

Clearly the Heathrow CEO didn't follow the Chinese Premiers visit to Manchester re Beijing nor is he aware of the 95% load factors on the daily MAN - Hong Kong, which last time I checked was in China.

Hopefully Mr O'Toole will respond " in kind".


Heathrow lays groundwork for third runway as revenues rise
Tanya Powley, Transport Correspondent

Heathrow airport is preparing designers, architects and suppliers to build its third runway as it hopes to receive the go-ahead from the government in December.
The group said it would look to award contracts in January for the workers it will need in the first couple of years to receive planning consent.
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“We are aiming to get a positive decision from the government in December and then we’ll be able to award those contracts the following month which will let us get on with things quickly,” said John Holland-Kaye, chief executive.
Mr Holland-Kaye said he remained confident that the government would give Heathrow the backing to build its third runway, over its rival Gatwick.
He said the timing of the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Britain this month highlighted the urgent need to expand Heathrow.

“If the government wants to be China’s partner in the west you need to be able to trade with all the major cities in China. At the moment we’ve only got four. There is no likelihood that any of the other airports in the UK are going to be able to fill in the direct regular flights to Chinese cities,” said Mr Holland-Kaye


His comments came as Heathrow announced a 4.1 per cent rise in turnover to £2.07bn for the nine months to September 30. The number of travellers passing through its terminals rose 2.3 per cent to a record 56.9m on the back of a good summer.
Heathrow said it continued to make progress in reducing its overheads. It has agreed a plan with the UK’s aviation regulator to remove £600m of costs during the five years between 2014 and 2018. It has already secured £400m of cost efficiencies.
Mr Holland-Kaye said the renegotiation of its defined benefit pension plan, which came into effect from October 1, would further improve costs. The changes include the introduction of an annual cap of 2 per cent on future increases to pensionable pay for active members, resulting in a one-off reduction of £236m in the scheme’s liabilities.
It is also looking to make more savings on employee costs. By the end of 2018, Heathrow aims to have about a third of its employees on salary packages that are about 30 per cent lower than existing terms and conditions.