Virgin Atlantic has withdrawn its support for a third runway at Heathrow airport amid its proposal to increase landing charges by 120%.
Despite previously supporting an expansion at the airport, Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss hit out at the rising costs for airlines flying into Heathrow on Monday at the Airlines 2022 conference in London.
Calling on the UK government “to pay closer attention to the abuse of power by a de facto monopolistic airport,” Weiss outlined it would be difficult to support the airport's expansion until change was made.
He added: “The regulatory framework and process is simply not working. It is broken and must be reformed.”
Commenting on the rise in charges for airlines, he said proposals were “great for the airport and its mostly foreign shareholders” but “a bad deal for consumers, airlines, and the UK economy”.
If it were to go ahead, the third runway at Heathrow would require a project costing around £14bn hoping to raise the airport's capacity by 740,000 flights each year.
However, the expansion has been at the centre of debate, with the expansion likely to “create tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic benefits to the UK,” according to the airport, but at high costs and requiring a huge logistical effort, involving the diverting of rivers, removal of a village and a bridge being built over the M25.
Heathrow airport has also struggled this year as it faced rapid growth after the pandemic that saw a passenger cap implemented in order for its handlers to be able to cope with demand.