An additional tax has been added to outbound flights from Heathrow airport, adding pressure on families who want to travel abroad after a year of restrictions.
The airport will charge an extra £8.90 - also known as United Kingdom Exceptional Regulatory Charge - to all outgoing flights from April, increasing the fees it already charges which include baggage handling, water, electricity and other services.
This means a family of five booking a summer holiday with British Airways would pay an extra £44.50 for using the London airport.
The stealth tax, which must be passed by airlines to Heathrow, is an attempt to recover from the airport’s financial loss last year when a decrease in travel and passenger numbers left the airport with losses of £2 billion.
A Heathrow spokesperson told the Standard: “Heathrow makes absolutely zero profit from these services. The price is calculated purely to cover the cost of operating and maintaining the infrastructure that supports them.
“To ensure this remains the case, the fees are set in accordance with a strict CAA protocol, as well as being scrutinised and agreed with airport users – as was the case with this year's charge.
“Low passenger numbers over 2020 as a result of COVID-19 meant we didn’t cover the costs of providing some services and translated into a price increase for 2021”.
