Last week, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) announced their final decision on economic regulation at the UK’s three main airports, after April, and it looks like passengers will benefit from better standards of service and lower prices! Using powers that were set out in the 2012 Civil Aviation Act, which details a flexible approach to regulation at airports, the CAA has carried out assessments at Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports. Overall, they decided that at Stansted passengers wouldn’t get any benefit from more regulation; however, at Gatwick and Heathrow, it’s a different matter as the CAA decide both of these airports will require an airport licence with effect from April 2014. Here are some more details you may find interesting!
Gatwick – in its favour, the CAA approved of the airport’s diversity of offerings to airlines in order to ensure that their passengers get a service that is tailored to them. So, their decision has been based on the airport’s commitment to Gatwick’s customers. The CAA has decided that a licence is needed to ensure the commitments are maintained, and allow the CAA to get involved if needs be, be it a lower quality of passenger service, or fair prices, and allows them to monitor second runway costs prior to either customers or airlines taking on those costs.
Heathrow – the CAA made a decision to control prices at Heathrow, which could see prices fall by as much as 1.5%, in real terms, from now until 2019, which represents a U-turn by the CAA who, last year, indicated that prices should be subject to inflation-led rises. However, because the forecasts of passenger traffic have been improved, the CAA has had a re-think.
For these two airports, the licences will ensure that areas such as length of queues, levels of cleanliness at the airports, the availability of information and seating keep the passenger’s interest at the forefront, and forces airports to develop sure-fire plans to deal with disruptions more effectively.
Stansted – when it came to Stansted, it was only the airport’s passenger market that was assessed and the CAA decided that there wasn’t enough market power to warrant any changes or a licence. So, with effect from April 2014, the CAA confirmed that the airport won’t be regulated.
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By Oliver Derek