Business Travel iQ
London — or the region in the southeast of the UK - is short of air capacity. And, as always when supply is short and demand high, that puts pressure on prices. In this case the prices are slots at Heathrow airport which means higher fares at the UK's — and London's — busiest airport.
The UK likes to investigate contentious issues via commissions and like the Chilcot Inquiry into UK participation in the Iraq War, the Airports (or Davies) Commission will not make its final recommendation until after the general election. That, however, does not mean that interested parties aren't playing politics.
But are they playing the right politics? Europe has Schengen and a single market but it doesn't have a single European sky. A single air control system could save airlines fuel costs and itself and travellers time; it could also save the environment many tonnes of carbon emissions. But our air solutions remain local.
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Last week easyJet fanned the flames of airport expansion in the south east of the UK by supporting the Heathrow option at the public consultation despite being the largest customer at Gatwick. Not only may the Gatwick lobby have been surprised to hear one of its largest customers endorsing its arch (and officially only) shortlist rival, but having just committed more than £2 billion on moving BA and easyJet into spanking new terminals a little bit miffed.
easyJet's argument is straightforward enough. If Davies gives the Gatwick option (the only options left on the table are an additional runway at either Heathrow or Gatwick) the nod, costs will inevitably go up at Gatwick to defray the costs. If Heathrow gets the nod, costs are not likely to go up by as much because costs there are already higher and, importantly, a new runway will mean more slots which means more competition including an entrée for the low-cost brigade.
All other things being equal, business travellers might choose between Gatwick and Heathrow (or Malpensa v Linate in Milan, or Schonefeld or Tegel in Berlin) because of proximity of home or office but for business travellers, routes matter most, then price. Enhancements are nice to have but it's not like choosing a restaurant for dinner; it's about choosing the taxi that will get you to the destination.
The airport isn't the objective; getting to and from a destination as easily and efficiently as possible is.