Regulators are proposing a small reduction in the landing fees that Heathrow Airport will be able to charge airlines in 2025 and 2026 after recommendations from the UK competition watchdog.
While the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in October broadly backed the UK CAA’s ruling on airline charges through until 2026 at Heathrow, it did identify some smaller issues that it asked the regulator to re-examine.
The CAA had initially set the maximum nominal charge per passenger that Heathrow could levy on airlines in 2025 and 2026 at £25.24 ($32.08) and £25.28, respectively. It is now proposing to cut Heathrow’s charges by around £1.52 in 2025 and £1.58 in 2026.
”While this is around 6% lower than the charges for 2025 and 2026 that the UK Civil Aviation Authority set in its H7 Final Decision, it amounts to an increase of approximately 3.5% compared to what charges would have been had no changes been needed to the final decision, with the regulator also proposing to change the correction factor term in the price control,” it says.
Airlines and Heathrow’s operator both contested the original charging decision – which essentially split the difference between the higher amount the airport was seeking and lower levels its carriers argued were required. The CMA rejected these appeals, but did find errors in the CAA’s evaluation process.
