London is air pollution. As a transportation
hub, we are uniquely placed to take a leading
role in reducing impacts by targeting the
biggest source of emissions – road vehicles.
“I believe that we are at the cusp of
an electric revolution, and that the shift to
electric vehicles is happening quicker than
people would have imagined even two
years ago. As part of our airport’s ambitious
plans to ‘Go Electric’, we now have one
of the largest electric vehicle fleets in the
country. We have already spent over £4m
in charging infrastructure, but I often find all
the charging points are being used when I
come to charge my own electric car. Airside,
we are planning an ultra-low emissions
zone by 2025, to encourage all our partners
operating on the airfield to turn their own
fleets electric. We are trialling electric buses
and even electric HGVs in cargo.
“With new public transport like Crossrail,
HS2 [the high-speed rail route from London
to some northern cities – also highly
contentious] and rail links to the west and
south on the horizon, the way people travel to
Heathrow is also set to be transformed. Our
goal is for 50% of all our passengers to use
public transport by 2030, up from 42% today.”HUB
Heathrow Airport is Britain’s biggest hub
airport, with connections to a vast number
of countries. In fact, one of the ‘selling’
points used to gain approval for the airport’s
expansion was its role as the ‘UK’s Hub’.
Unfortunately, connections to many UK
regions in recent years have been hampered
by the airport operating at near capacity –
but Holland-Kaye is keen for Heathrow to
grow and alleviate that situation. He said:
“Expansion will increase the opportunities fordomestic connectivity. Heathrow has long
been an ardent campaigner for boosting
domestic flights at our airport. We believe
that every corner of our country should be
able to benefit from the growth and trade that
stems from links to the nation’s hub airport –
that’s why we’ve made it cheaper to fly within
the UK by reducing our domestic passenger
charges by more than 50%. Putting nearly
£40m back into the pockets of British
families and businesses each year will help
to spur growth in every part of the UK.”
He added: “With expansion, existing carriers
like Flybe and new carriers like easyJet could
add connections to markets such as Newquay,
Liverpool, Dundee and Humberside, and bring
competition and choice on existing domestic
routes, helping to reduce costs for travellers.
And, through improved domestic connections,
we will help deliver up to £187bn in economic
benefits across the UK.”
In early February 2018, the topic of
choice and competition brought HAL under
fire from the IAG – parent company of
Iberia and the airport’s biggest customer,British Airways. It called on the UK Civil
Aviation Authority (CAA) to allow different
companies to run commercial facilities like
terminals: “Competition would provide better
facilities more economically and ensure
customer charges do not rise to pay for new
infrastructure,” IAG declared. “It would also
generate better financing options for new
infrastructure providing greater transparency
and, consequently, lower risk.”
IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh said:
“This is not rocket science. Most major US
airports have terminals owned or leased by
airlines and there are European examples
at Frankfurt and Munich airports. There’s
absolutely no reason why this cannot
happen at Heathrow. With more passengers
and the introduction of internal competition,
the airport’s charges should go down.”
HAL disagrees with IAG’s argument
favouring airlines operating terminals.
While the CAA is still considering IAG’s
proposal, HAL is getting on with its task of
delivering the airport’s expansion. Holland-
Kaye said: “We have already selectedhttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 23Heathrow’s northerly runway, in the foreground of a westerly looking view of the airport, with part of the Terminal 3 complex and Terminal 5
visible behind. Anthony Charlton/LHR Airports LimitedMarch marked the tenth anniversary of A380 passenger flights at Heathrow. Singapore Airlines
was the first carrier to fly the massive aircraft into the airport. David Poultney/LHR Airports Limited20-25_heathrowDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 23 06/04/2018 15:13