Virgin Atlantic withdraws support for third runway at Heathrow

‘The Government must pay closer attention to the abuse of power by a de facto monopolistic airport’

VIRGIN Atlantic is withdrawing its support for a third runway at Heathrow until a long-running dispute between the airport and airlines can be resolved.

Shai Weiss, the airline’s chief executive, said that a “broken” system of how Heathrow imposes take-off and landing charges must first be fixed.

“Until that happens, it is difficult to see how expansion at Heathrow can be supported,” he told an airlines conference in London.

The Virgin Atlantic boss urged the Civil Aviation Authority to “pay closer attention to the abuse of power by a de facto monopolistic airport”.

Heathrow, owned by a group of predominantly overseas investors, operates as a regulated monopoly. Its financial returns are more akin to that of a water company as it is entitled to recoup its costs together with a profit margin.

The CAA allowed Heathrow to increase its charges by 56pc this summer, following a war of words between the airport and airlines that operate from it. Heathrow chiefs argued the airport was entitled to recoup losses racked up during the pandemic.

Mr Weiss said Heathrow’s plan to raise charges was “great for the airport and its mostly foreign shareholders… [but] a bad deal for consumers, airlines and the UK economy”.

He added: “We have fought long and hard to ensure the CAA uses its powers to ensure this would not happen and encouraged the Government to pay closer attention to the abuse of power by a de facto monopolistic airport.”

Take-off and landing charges are scheduled to fall next year – a decision that has yet to be rubber-stamped by officials.

Mr Weiss’s comments came as Willie Walsh, the former boss of British Airways and now head of airlines lobby group IATA, clashed with the aviation minister over the impact of Brexit on the sector.

Mr Walsh said Brexit had “damaged the UK, from everything I’ve seen”.

But Baroness Vere, the aviation minister, hit back, saying Britain’s airlines will rebound more quickly than those on the Continent.