The cost of a new Gatwick runway – £50 extra per return flight
A new research study – ‘Who would pay for a new runway’ – examines who would pay for a new runway at Gatwick or at Heathrow. It concludes that a new runway at Gatwick would mean an increase in airport charges (landing fees, aircraft parking charges etc) per passenger from £8 at present to £33.60 – an increase of £25, or £50 per return flight. At Heathrow the increase would be from £19 per passenger to £31. The calculations are based on the estimate made by the Airports Commission that a new Gatwick runway would cost £10 – £13 billion. The local Gatwick campaign, GACC, say Gatwick often claim that a new runway at Gatwick would be cheaper than one at Heathrow. But they don’t mention that the cost would need to be borne by roughly half as many passengers at Gatwick as at Heathrow. In the past the cost of new infrastructure was met by the Government, or spread among BAA’s airports. But now all the airports are privately owned by separate companies. The cost of a Gatwick runway would have to be met only by the passengers using Gatwick. £50 extra on a return flight might well cause price sensitive passengers and airlines to choose to use Stansted instead.
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The cost of a new Gatwick runway – £50 extra per return flight
10.3.2014 (GACC – Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign)
A research study published today – ‘Who would pay for a new runway’ – by the Aviation Environment Federation examines who would pay for a new runway at Gatwick or at Heathrow.
It concludes that a new runway at Gatwick would mean an increase in airport charges (landing fees, aircraft parking charges etc) per passenger from £8 at present to £33.60 – an increase of £25, or £50 per return flight.
At Heathrow the increase would be from £19 per passenger to £31. The calculations are based on the estimate made by the Airports Commission that a new Gatwick runway would cost £10 – £13 billion. [This figure comes from the Airports Commission Interim report . December 2013. Paragraph 6.75 ]
The study is written by former Treasury adviser Brendon Sewill, who is chairman of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, with help from Brian Ross, economic adviser to SSE, the Stansted environmental group.
Brendon Sewill said: ‘Gatwick Airport often claim that a new runway at Gatwick would be cheaper than one at Heathrow. But what they do not mention is that the cost would need to be borne by roughly half as many passengers.’
In the past the cost of new infrastructure was met by the Government, or spread among the passengers at all the main UK airports. But now all the airports are privately owned by separate companies. Politicians will not want to pay for a new runway out of public funds, and indeed any subsidy would be contrary to EU rules. That means that the cost of a new runway at Gatwick would have to be met only by the passengers using Gatwick.
‘£50 extra on a return flight,’ Sewill added, ‘might well cause passengers and airlines to choose to use Stansted instead.’
http://www.gacc.org.uk/latest-news.php
“6.75
The costs of expansion at Gatwick, while substantial (estimated to be between
£10-13 billion over the period to 2030, once the costs of surface access
improvements are taken into account, and with allowances for risk and optimism
bias), are lower than those of expansion at Heathrow and significantly lower than
those of any new hub airport.”
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A new runway at Heathrow or Gatwick would mean big increases in passenger fees – New report
March 10, 2014
The Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) has submitted a new report to the Airports Commission which casts doubt on the feasibility of building a new runway at either Gatwick or Heathrow. So far there has been little realistic discussion about who will actually pay for the proposed runways. The new study,“Who Would Pay for a New Runway” by Brendon Sewill, shows that a new runway at Heathrow would be likely to mean an increase in landing fees and other airport charges from £19 per passenger now, up to £31. At Gatwick there would be a larger increase, up from £8 now to £33.60. The study points out that with all the London airports separately owned, unlike in the days of BAA, the cost will have to fall only on the passengers using that airport. If an expensive runway (and terminal) is built, the options are either that the passengers pay for it – or that it has to have public subsidy. A report for the Airports Commission, by KPMG, concluded that a new Heathrow runway would need a subsidy of around £11 billion, and a new Gatwick runway a subsidy of nearly £18 billion. However, the Government is reluctant to commit public funds, and new EU guidelines ruling out subsidies to major airports. That leaves landing charges – will passengers put up with that, or vote with their feet by using cheaper airports?
Click here to view full story…
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