BA owners IAG and Virgin slam CAA decision to raise Heathrow’s price cap

ILARIA GRASSO MACOLA

VIRGIN Airlines and British Airways’ owner IAG have slammed the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) decision today to hike Heathrow’s price cap. The regulator announced the hike yesterday morning, raising the cap for 2023 to £31.57 per passenger, up from £30.19.

The aviation watchdog said the decision will “give certainty to the airport and airlines.”

The hike in the price cap – the amount Heathrow charges airlines per passenger – is well below what the airport was calling for, however, previously asking for it to be raised to as much as £41.95 per passenger for the period up to 2027.

But the cap, which is calculated based on passenger numbers, has generated huge controversy, with airline bosses accusing the west London hub of downplaying its postpandemic recovery to get a more favourable price cap hike.

A spokesperson for British Airways’ owner IAG told City A.M. it was disappointing the CAA hadn’t taken into account “the reality of higher traffic volumes, which ought to result in lower prices.” did not seem to skimp on treating their pets this Christmas, with the retailer citing the popularity of its accessories category and Christmas range for the strong quarter.

“Consumers still want to treat their beloved pets in these challenging times,” top dog Lyssa McGowan said.

Pets at Home now expects full year pre-tax profit to come in near £136m, up from previous guidance of £131m.

The London-based lender, which offers business loans of up to £500,000, said demand for cash from alternative lenders had been buoyed by high street banks’ fears of a wave of defaults as the cost of energy jumped and cash flows dried up.

“[We saw] a big boost over the summer, where I think we started seeing the effects of higher inflation and higher costs,” Christoph Rieche, Iwoca’s chief and co-founder, told City A.M. “It also means [small businesses’ customers started paying slower, because they’re withholding some funds to pay for the higher expenses. It’s a double whammy that hits cash flow.”

Iwoca’s customer base, which skews towards the smaller end of the SME market, has swelled to around 90,000 firms since launching in 2012. It has increased the scale of its core lending product to better meet the needs of mid-sized businesses.