Delays at Heathrow are 'thanks to' runway congestion, says BA
April 16, 2008New figures from the Civil Aviation Authority have revealed that the average delay on a flight arriving into Heathrow has increased.
The data shows that the delay is now on average 20 minutes, an increase of 25 per cent since 2003.
Future Heathrow, which has members including British Airways, said that the average delays at Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle were less than 15 minutes, despite the airports having more flights than Heathrow.
Lord Soley, Future Heathrow's campaign director said: "Heathrow's two runways are currently operating at 99 per cent of their permitted capacity and this is leading to unnecessary delays for passengers.
"Both Amsterdam and Paris have more flights than Heathrow but fewer delays thanks to the spare capacity provided by their extra runways."
He went on to add that the figures showed that "additional capacity at Heathrow is needed now, if the UK is to maintain its competitive edge", as well as listing the numbers of runways at other European airports.
"Frankfurt has three runways, Paris CDG has four, Amsterdam has five, and all operate at less than 75 per cent of their capacity."
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