Willie Walsh Says Second Runway Does Not Make Business Sense

As the UK Airports Commission inches closer to a decision about airport expansion in London, the CEO of IAG ... the parent company of British Airways ... says there is no business case that supports a second runway at Gatwick Airport.

Willie Walsh told Buying Business Travel that his opinion is "based on the demand environment," and said BA would strongly oppose any increase in fees that would fund a Gatwick expansion.

He said that if Gatwick wants to build a new runway, officials there should not expect operators to pay for it. He added that the same logic applies to expansion at Heathrow. "We also think the charges are too high there," he said, and "the airline community will not support excessive investment which is being made to inflate the returns they make."

Gatwick argues that it would be less expensive to build a new runway there than at Heathrow, and that the savings would be passed along to passengers.

The Airports Commission is scheduled to make a final recommendation for expansion in the summer of 2015.

(Artist's rendering of second runway at Gatwick pictured in file image)

FMI: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/airports-commission