8 February 2011
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has begun a consultation on an extension of price controls at Heathrow and Gatwick for a further year. The aviation regulator said this would provide an opportunity for the next price control to be developed in line with reforms to the framework for economic regulation planned by the Government.
The Government intends to change the CAA’s primary duty to one that promotes the interests of passengers. The proposed reforms would provide the CAA with more flexible tools to regulate airports, which would strengthen the CAA’s ability to protect passengers and improve service quality, whilst ensuring that airport licence holders are able to finance their activities.
The new framework would allow more proactive and responsive regulation tailored to the circumstances of each airport, not just developing a one-off settlement every five years. However, the legislation has yet to go through Parliament so the changes cannot be made until next year. The CAA has said that it does not want to launch price control reviews under the current framework and then have to change its plans next year. It is therefore is asking stakeholders whether it ought to extend the current price control periods by one year.
http://www.uk-airport-news.info/heathrow-airport-news-080211a.html
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