Heathrow Airport wants to reduce the domestic passenger charge by £10 next year, it was proposed today.
The London airport currently adds £29.59 to the price of every domestic ticket — this would be reduced to £19.59 for passengers flying to destinations within the UK.
LHR also wants to reduce by £5 (from £29.59 to £24.59) the charge levied at passengers travelling to destinations within Europe.
It hopes the proposed reductions, scheduled to occur on January 1 next year, would make both domestic connectivity and transferring at Heathrow more attractive.
Domestic connectivity at LHR has long been in decline — in 1990, 18 domestic routes were in operation, compared to seven today.
Heathrow plans to make up the income shortfall by increasing the amount it charges airlines for emissions and noise from 21 to 28 per cent of total airport charges.
CEO John Holland-Kaye said: "We're serious when we say Heathrow is committed to making sure that businesses across Britain can benefit from the connections to growth markets that only the UK's hub can provide, whilst incentivising only the quietest and cleanest planes to operate from Heathrow.
"Our proposal to cut passenger charges by a third for domestic services will help us continue to drive the tourism, exports, inbound tourism and foreign direct investment that supports economic growth across the whole of the UK."
Heathrow is currently campaigning for a third runway, in direct competition against Gatwick's campaign for a second runway. The Airports Commission will deliver its final report after next month's general election in the summer.
Graham Smith
