British Airways Owner Rips Into Heathrow Airport Over ‘Outrageous’ Expansion Costs
Photo Credit: A British Airways 747 in Landor livery arrives at London Heathrow on 09 March 2019. Parent company IAG is worried about spiralling costs associated with a new runway at Heathrow. British Airways / Nick Morrish
Skift Take
It's strange to see an airport and its biggest customer at loggerheads. IAG CEO Willie Walsh is rapidly losing his patience with the expansion project, and the UK government might decide to follow suit.
Willie Walsh, the CEO of Iberia and British Airways parent company IAG, has renewed his battle with Heathrow Airport over the “outrageous costs” associated with its plans for a third runway.
Walsh has long been critical of the project and wants it stopped or at least done much cheaper.
Of course, he isn't an objective observer. IAG is the biggest airline group at Heathrow with 56 percent of slots and is no doubt concerned that the airport will pass any increase in the building costs on to the airline.
“The regulator needs to step in. This is completely unacceptable. The costs are out of control. And we still challenge Heathrow to demonstrate that they can do it. [The] government needs to be very focused on this,” Walsh told analysts on an earnings call on Friday.
According to IAG, the real costs of b
