Heathrow given green light to raise passenger charges by more than 50%
Heathrow has been given permission to increase charges by more than 50% from January 2022.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the cap on the west London airport’s price per passenger next year will be £30.19.
The current charge is £19.60.
Charges are paid by airlines but are generally passed on to passengers in air fares.
Last month, long queues formed at Terminal 3 as eager travellers checked in to their flights.
A decision on a long-term cap which is expected to begin in summer 2022 and run to 2027 is due to be announced early next year.
A spokesman for Heathrow, which had called for the cap to range from £32 to £43, said it was “extremely disappointed” in the interim figure of £30.19.
The £30.19 cap “reflects the uncertainty of the recovery of passenger volumes at the airport from the pandemic, particularly following the emergence of new information about the Omicron variant of Covid-19”, according to the CAA.
The cap will move up or down depending on factors such as passenger numbers and commercial revenue.
Heathrow said in September its losses from the Covid-19 pandemic had hit £3.4 billion.
Passenger numbers are around 40% of pre-pandemic levels.