Regional airlines priced out of Heathrow
LOCAL aviation and development chiefs have called on the Government to stop the industry from pricing regional airlines out of Heathrow.
The call comes as a new report claims ministers are unlikely to guarantee landing slots at the London hub for flights from Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA).
In the summer, airport chiefs were lobbying senior politicians with a view to hammering out an agreement - a public service obligation (PSO) - that would effectively ring-fence landing slots for its flights to Heathrow.
But an independent report commissioned by development agency One North East said that even if the move was green-lighted by Government, it could cost the region an initial £21.5m and up to £2m a year thereafter.
Hugh Lang, group airports director of DTVA owner Peel Airports, said: “The central issue which has to be resolved in order to sustain regional air services into Heathrow is the pricing system.
“That was made crystal clear by bmi when earlier this year they announced their decision to withdraw the service from DTVA.”
He said the report estimated that the impact of increased Heathrow charges and Airport Passenger Duty was the equivalent of adding £14 each way on the Durham Tees Valley-Heathrow route.
“That is the stark reality which the Government must face up to,” he said. “There is a need to introduce at Heathrow the kind of preferential pricing system for regional services which operates successfully at major airports in many other countries.”
DTVA has been rocked by a series of route cancellations over the past 18 months - including the vital bmi service to Heathrow. But airport chiefs are seeking new services for business travellers to complement the Tees Valley-Amsterdam service run by KLM.
The Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit said it would raise the issue of Heathrow’s pricing system with local MPs and regional minister Nick Brown, claiming it affected every region outside the South of England.
Director John Lowther said: “The pricing system effectively means it costs just as much for small regional service aircraft to land there as it does for the much larger aircraft operating on international routes.”
Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson has called for a review into Government aviation policy, which, he says, should take measures to stop regional airlines from being priced out of the market.
He said: “It’s not just about the economies of the aviation industry; it’s about the economies of the regions. The Government’s strategy should be focused on growing these regional economies.”
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