Just as the UK’s Airports Commission is set to launch its 12-week consultation into how the UK can maintain its international status, Heathrow (LHR) has warned that it is in danger of losing its top European hub position to Schiphol and that if it did “we should hang our heads in shame”.

 

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye (below) has come out fighting in defence of LHR’s position, claiming that Britain could lose its crown as home to the biggest airport for international traffic in Europe to Holland, within 10 years.

 

London competes fiercely with Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam for transfer passengers, many of whom travel on daily direct, long-haul routes to emerging markets.

 

According to LHR, those emerging markets are predicted to make up nearly half of global GDP by 2050. Heathrow argues: “With UK businesses trading 20 times more with emerging markets with daily direct flights, than those with less frequent or no direct service, Britain needs more flights to more cities than France, Germany and the Netherlands to win the race for jobs and growth that will otherwise go to international competitors.”

 

LHR’S GROWTH IS LIMITED

The most recent traffic figures from each airport show that all four are recording increases in international traffic – but that LHR has the slowest rate of growth.

 

Paris has increased most quickly in the 12 months to August, up +4%, followed by Amsterdam (+3.8%), and Frankfurt (+3.1%). “Heathrow was up by + 2.1% and this is almost entirely based on higher loads factors and larger aircraft,” the airport says.

 

Analysis of Heathrow’s winter schedule using data for the first week of February in 2014 and 2015 also shows that only Heathrow has been unable to increase the number of its airlines this winter. By contrast, Paris has added 10 new airlines, Amsterdam seven, and Frankfurt five, with Paris now hosting over a hundred airlines compared to Heathrow’s 81.

 

DESTINATIONS EFFECTIVELY FROZEN

Heathrow was also only able to add one previously un-served destination to its schedule, BA’s flight to Austin Texas, whereas Paris was able to add 18 new ones from 13 different airlines, including Brasilia, Brazil, and Xi’an, the largest industrial economy in China.

 

Frankfurt is adding 17 destinations via eight airlines, including Changsha, China; and Gaziantep, Kayseri, and Elazig in Turkey. Amsterdam is adding nine new routes, including Jakarta in Indonesia, and Egypt.

 

CAPACITY CRUNCH

Holland-Kaye comments: “Britain benefits from having the biggest international hub airport in the world, one of only six airports in the world with more than 50 regular long-haul flights. Heathrow gets British business people and their exports to the world’s growing economies – but lack of capacity at Heathrow means we are being overtaken by our European competitors – they are taking the growth that should be ours. Britain could and should win the race for growth.

 

“We can have the vision and confidence to develop Heathrow into the world’s best connected airport, putting Britain at the heart of the global economy, or we can accept that in the future Britain will be on the branch-line to growth – having to fly via Paris, Frankfurt or Istanbul to get to emerging markets.

 

“We should hang our heads in shame if we let slip the competitive advantage handed down to us by previous generations.”