‘Airports love disruptions’ said an ex-Heathrow executive in an
informal chat. They surely do, judging by recently announced 22% increase in nine
months profit of the world’s most constrained airport. Heathrow success increasingly
depends on retail revenue stimulated by the increase in length of dwell time that disrupted
passengers spend at the airport. But how much they could possibly earn from
increased disruptions? The following chart published by Airport Watch UK (with
added comment) could provide some answers.
Heathrow has enjoyed the freedom of disrespecting its runway limitations
for years, letting in more flights than it could decently handle. This freedom has
stretched to reporting which doesn’t agree much with common sense and passenger
experience – its public reports on delays (published by CAA) indicate that airport
punctuality gets better with the increase in airport (over)congestion:
This year Heathrow won the title of ‘Best Airport over 25
million passengers’ awarded by Airport Council International (ACI) Europe – not
for the quality of service but for retail as the most valued criteria. So,
more disruptions are on the way. Undercover or not, they will make air travel through
Heathrow less convenient and more costly and will last as long as airlines and
passengers continue to stretch their threshold of tolerance.
