As airlines line up for snow compensation after airport closures in December, BAA has revealed its own financial hardship due to the bad weather.
The airport operator estimates the cost of the weather disruption in December to be £24 million, after a fall in passenger numbers of 10.9%, compared to the same month in 2009.
While Heathrow airport was the hardest hit, with a reduction in profit of £19 million, Stansted, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Gatwick and Southampton airports also suffered financially due to the snow.
Most of the costs came down to lost income from airlines, who couldn’t fly, but around 40% of the costs came from “supporting passengers in the difficult circumstances”, said BAA.
These costs included laying on extra staff and resources to assist passengers in the airport terminals as well as providing hotels and food for stranded passengers.
Colin Matthews, BAA’s CEO, said: “We are sorry for the flights that had to be cancelled as a result of the snow. The cost of any disruption to BAA's airports is significant and a strong financial incentive for us to continue to make Heathrow more resilient.”
BAA has launched an enquiry into how Heathrow airport handled the snow, to be led by David Begg, a recently-appointed non-executive director of BAA. The results will be published in March.
Bmi and Lufthansa are the latest airlines to join the queue for compensation from BAA, reports said, after Virgin announced it would be withholding payments from the airport operator until the results of the enquiry have been published.
The Board of Airline Representatives (BAR UK), which represents nearly 90 airlines, has also called for BAA to make amends for the five days of closures during the snow fall in the run up to Christmas.
www.baa.com