By Guy Taylor
The head of Emirates airlines, Sir Tim Clark, has said a London airport is “seriously lagging behind” its rivals and compared it to a run down Second World War hub.
Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates, said Heathrow airport had placed dividend payouts above running a top class business and criticised the experience of passengers using Terminal 3.
“I was at Heathrow the other day and walking out of our lounge the ceiling height is awful,” Clark said. “It looks like a utilitarian structure, post-Second World War. It is just not good enough.”
It comes after the UK aviation watchdog proposed in March to cut Heathrow’s landing charges by six per cent. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) believes average charges per passenger should be cut by around £1.52, to £23.72 next year and by £1.58 to £23.70 in 2026.
The UK’s biggest airport had tussled with airlines over the charges for years and the new proposals could hit the bottom line. Heathrow turned a first profit in four years in February as it finally made headway in emerging from the lows of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Clark, who has been highly critical of Heathrow in the past, said the airport was “seriously lagging behind” in its customer experience.
“It’s an old airport. I’m afraid it’s very difficult. You need to open up the whole terminal. Where we are based, new airports are being built employing the latest technologies to streamline the process of all the customer-facing elements. That is not the case at Heathrow.”
A Heathrow spokesperson argued: “Every pound we want to spend on improving airport facilities needs approval from our regulator.
“Despite having our proposals cut back in the current regulatory settlement, we will still invest £3.6bn upgrading our infrastructure over the next three years. We will continue to invest and to work with our airline partners to build an airport fit for the future.”
Sir Tim was speaking at the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) annual meeting in Dubai. His comments were first reported by the Telegraph and the Times.
