The head of IATA Giovanni Bisignami has called Heathrow a national embarrassment and slated the CAA for increasing charges by over 50% over the last five years. The CAA also came in from a drubbing from Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary. In an interview with the BBC the ceo echoed Bisignami’s criticism of the regulator. How long before calls for change will be heeded?
Meanwhile, Ryanair posted a 20% increase in annual profits and said the airline would not be passing on high fuel costs to passengers. Any bets on how long O’Leary will stick to his pledge? There’s only so much the airline can charge for so-called ‘additional services’ such as checking in luggage and using a credit card.