Airport operator BAA, responsible for Heathrow airport, has come under attack from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) following criticism borne from a UK Competition Commission market investigation.
According to the commission, BAA's airports, in particular Heathrow, are not meeting customer service levels, from baggage delivery times to security wait times, which in turn is damaging airport competition.
With 68 million passengers flowing through Heathrow airport each year, the IATA says BAA has no time to wait when it comes to improving service levels to fix its slowly dwindling passenger rates – declining at 1.7% a year.
IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani says a lack of investment by the airport is letting passengers down and that the situation at BAA "needs desperately fixing and fast".
BAA CEO Stephen Nelson, however, criticised the report on service levels, saying issues at Heathrow can largely be put down to a lack of runway capacity and the current terminal structure.
He used the opportunity to push for political support for a planned Heathrow Airport extension.
"BAA accepts that the experience of too many passengers using London airports is unsatisfactory," Nelson says.
"But the problems of congestion and delay which affect passengers have their roots a in lack of terminal and runway capacity, not the ownership structure of BAA."
The IATA criticised BAA for failing to put in place effective incentives to deliver acceptable service levels, and labelled the airport an "out-of-control monopoly".
But Nelson says the last thing required at BAA airports is structural change.
"[Structural change] will seriously delay the delivery of the investment that is urgently needed to improve the passenger experience and increase capacity," Nelson says.
BAA says plans have already been put in place to recruit additional staff and invest in new equipment which should help ease pressure on passengers and increase capacity in existing terminals.
Reported by Penny Jones
