The cost of flying via Heathrow airport will soon rise due to their aims of expansion with their bid for a third runway.
Leading aviation expert Ronan Murphy, a director at Alton Aviation consultancy, has said it is inevitable that passengers will have to pay more to fly from Heathrow as a result of the airports infrastructure growth, in order to recover the costs of Heathrow's runway bid.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said that Heathrow could recover up to £320 million that it has spent so far on proposals for the expansion, which would amount to less than 10p per passenger. However, Murphy said that this decision could trigger airlines to pass on the costs – leaving the customer paying more as a result.
Earlier this week, Heathrow revealed its disappointment in the CAA for allowing rival firms to build its third runway and placing tighter controls on its spending. A spokesperson for Heathrow has said that the third runway expansion will bring air fares down through increased competition, even accounting for any hikes to airline fees.
Fears that summer holidays could be cancelled for travellers across the country prompted ministers to secure airlines’ access to fuel and temporarily relax rules on carriers’ slots at UK airports, but Murphy says that travellers do not need to panic when travelling this summer as European airlines are protected short-term by fixed-price contracts and access to oil reserves.