Heathrow urges government to scrap £10 fee for transit passengers

Heathrow has called for fees on transit passengers to be scrapped, arguing that UK airports are being put at a competitive disadvantage.

Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETA), which were introduced by the government in November, require all non-UK resident passengers to pay a £10 fee to enter the country.

However, Heathrow said on Thursday that while it supported the "overall rationale" behind the scheme, applying it to airside transit passengers "will put UK airports at a competitive disadvantage compared to European Union hubs".

A total of 19,000 fewer transit passengers had travelled from Qatar since ETAs were introduced, the operator noted, with the transfer route recording its lowest monthly proportions for over ten years for each month since the implementation.

It continued: "This is a huge blow to UK competitiveness, as many long-haul routes, which are highly important to the UK’s economy, exports and wider connectivity, rely on transit passengers.

"Ministers need to take action to remove this measure."

The comments came as Heathrow posted passenger numbers for March showing an 8% jump to a record 6.73m, boosted by the early Easter.

Good Friday was the busiest-ever direct departure day for the airport, with a total of 118,000 people starting trips from Heathrow.

In the year to March, terminal passengers totalled 18.52m, a 9.5% increase.

Thomas Woldbye, chief executive, said: "We’re on a journey to be an extraordinary airport fit for the future.

"But to keep up the momentum, the government neds to exempt airside transit passengers from the ETA scheme, to avoid encouraging passengers to spend and do business elsewhere. We need to level the playing field."