The UK’s largest airport has been compared to a “post-Second World War” structure by the chief of Emirates.
Sir Tim Clark accused London’s Heathrow Airport of prioritizing shareholder dividends over customer experiences. “I was at Heathrow the other day and walking out of our lounge the ceiling height is awful,” he told The Times. “It looks like a utilitarian structure, post-Second World War. It is just not good enough.”
Sir Tim said Terminal 3, which houses the UAE flag-carrier, should be redesigned to ease the flow of people through security and check-in. “It’s an old airport. I’m afraid it’s very difficult,” he added. “You need to open up the whole terminal. Where we are based, new airports are being built employing the latest technologies to streamline the process of all the customer-facing elements. That is not the case at Heathrow.”
The intervention comes after the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority ruled in March that Heathrow needed to cut take-off and landing charges levied on airlines by around 6 percent, to £23.72 ($30.31) per passenger in 2025, and to £23.70 in 2026.
Sir Tim had previously complained that Heathrow was “seriously lagging behind” in terms of customer experience given the high prices being placed on passengers, but the airport said the money was necessary in order to maintain and improve its facilities.
Heathrow said in a statement: “Every pound we want to spend on improving airport facilities needs approval from our regulator. Despite having our proposals cut back in the current regulatory settlement, we will still invest £3.6 billion upgrading our infrastructure over the next three years. We will continue to invest and to work with our airline partners to build an airport fit for the future.”