Heathrow expansion vital, says BA boss

12:34pm Tuesday 8th July 2008

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Expansion at Heathrow is critical if it is to compete as an international airport, claims British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh.

Speaking at a press conference at the airport on Friday, he said: "We are seriously behind other airports, particularly in the Middle East.

“I am aware many people depend on Heathrow for their jobs while others do not want to see expansion because of the impact on their lives. It’s a very sensitive issue."

Willie Walsh

"Additional runway capacity would make Heathrow much more efficient. The two runways we have are effectively full all day. Even minor weather problems impact and because of that we are the most delay prone airport in Europe.

"Another runway would make things better from a reliability point of view and allow us to expand."

Mr Walsh, who lives in Twickenham, said Heathrow is the international hub airport for the UK and needs to expand into emerging markets such as China.

"It's an important issue, not only for London and the south-east, but the whole UK economy."

Speaking of the airport expansion debate he said: "It's clear that there is opposition to the expansion of Heathrow and it is important for people to be allowed to express their views and for me to express my views. We need to inform people and have a debate based on facts."

He added: "I am aware many people depend on Heathrow for their jobs while others do not want to see expansion because of the impact on their lives. It's a very sensitive issue.

"No doubt the debate will go on and so far its been structured and balanced. There are environmental issues that we have to address and we will address them and also economic issues to take into account. Heathrow is a big employer in this area."

He said the rise in oil prices was a big challenge and a significant threat to the industry.

"We had record profits last year of £900m so our financial position is good and we have paid for 75 per cent of this year's fuel so we will survive better than most but it's still a big challenge to us," he continued.

Mr Walsh added there was no sign of fuel prices going down and many, including himself and OPEC expect prices will go up higher still.

He said eight or nine airlines around Europe had already gone out of business and predicted more will fail.

"We have not seen the full impact yet its going to be a very difficult 12 months."

He added that British Airways would have to increase prices for passengers and reduce planes on some routes.

Referring to the opening of Terminal Five exactly 100 days previously, he said: "It was bitterly disappointing and frustrating and we should have performed better.

"I came in at 3am on the day and it was clear very early on that not everything was right, I was getting concerned very early on.

"Some of the things we got wrong we shouldn't have got wrong and some things we could not have anticipated. A hundred days on it is working well."

• What do you think about Heathrow expansion? Email rtt@london.newsquest.co.uk.