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Heathrow airlines deplore proposed Tube delays

The proposals by Transport for London (TfL) to delay the running of the London Underground by one hour at weekends will cause Heathrow to become isolated for thousands of passengers, staff, and other airport users.

BAR UK, which represents over 90% of all airlines flying into Heathrow, contends that the current schedule already underserves Heathrow. Later running will hit airline operations even more by:

• denying access by Tube to thousands of passengers, and their families and friends
• denying access to Heathrow for thousands of staff
• creating additional and adverse environmental effects
• diluting the current and future investments already committed to Tube services

A total of 26 weekend flights, carrying 35000 passengers, would be affected by passengers either not being able to reach Heathrow in time to check in, or finding that there would be no services to take from Heathrow into London. These figures will increase substantially once Airbus A380 operations commence in 2006.

Commenting on these proposals, Mike Carrivick, Chief Executive of BAR UK, said ‘Underground services are a vital element in the airport’s infrastructure. It is not acceptable that thousands of passengers and staff will be forced onto the roads instead, and goes against all the environmental polices of Government and the Mayor of London.

‘BAR UK calls on Transport for London to withdraw its proposals’.

For editors:
BAR UK represents 90 scheduled airlines in the UK and full details of its work can be found at www.bar-uk.org

For further information contact: Mike Carrivick, Chief Executive BAR UK
Tel: 020 7393 1261 Fax: 020 7393 1206 Email: mike.carrivick@bar-uk.org .