We have a new Prime Minister. One of the first things he needs to sort out is the direction, and maybe ownership, of Britain”s major airports. These, in the 21st century, are the key to the country”s future prosperity and economic growth.
Within the last ten days Ferrovial, BAA owner, invited some of the British media to Madrid.
The Spanish hosts broke two golden rules: firstly, the briefing should have been in London; and secondly, you don”t threaten, which was the way The Times Ben Webster interpreted the message of the day.
Ferrovial chairman Rafael del Pintoc said plans for a new terminal at Heathrow could be scrapped if a settlement with the aviation regulator was not reached by the end of the year.
Heathrow is the world”s busiest international airport, in spite of BAA some would say.
From all quarters the complaints are rolling in. Ferrovial purchased the airport, warts and all, as an investment. Perhaps the price was too high? One presumes that those who bought actually came and saw what they were buying.
As things stand the cost for airlines operating at BAA airports is set by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) after consultation with the airport owners. The Competition Commission is currently considering the latest proposals and is due to report in September. Del Pintoc wants what he considers a fair return on his investment. Nothing wrong with that but what is a fair return?
London”s four major airports are all owned by Spanish interests: Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted by the Ferrovial consortium and Luton by another Iberian conglomerate which took over TBI plc.
TBI also owns Belfast and Cardiff Airports. Kath James, Luton”s somewhat short term MD recently resigned to take over NEC in a similar position and an announcement is expected very shortly concerning a replacement. In the meantime Angel Lerma, a very experienced Spanish airport man is in charge, and will become TBI operations director based at Luton. TBI, unlike BAA, is clearly hands-on.
Airports are a very complicated issue covering many important topics. It is probably best to list the most important ones:
” In transport terms they are vital to both a country's and city's economy
” Without airports there would be no airlines
” And without airports there would be none of the businesses, both large and small, that go into their infrastructure
” They have a major environmental impact
” Finally they employ a great many people
BAA chief executive Steven Nelson joined the airport company in 2002 from supermarket firm Sainsbury”s. Recently he admitted to The Guardian that there were problems. ”Collectively we have a lot that we need to understand: that queues are unacceptable, that airports need to be clean and well lit, that toilets need to be regularly maintained."
The real question should be: ”Is it healthy for the country that these key gateways are controlled by overseas parties whose only interest is profit?” They are the lifeblood of the country. Would the French allow it? Or even the Spanish? If Heathrow fails we all fail. Do we need absentee landlords?