H7 Heathrow Airport Licence Modification Appeals
08 Sep 2023
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The CMA has published its provisional determination on the appeals brought by Heathrow Airport Limited (“HAL”) and three airlines against the Civil Aviation Authority’s (“CAA”) H7 price control decision.
Heathrow Airport is operated by HAL. HAL is subject to a price cap imposed by the CAA which controls the revenue which it can raise from the airlines which use the airport, in order to protect consumers. The CAA’s most recent price control decision, H7, was issued on 9 March 2023. It was a particularly complex price control decision because of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation industry.
The Appellants brought an appeal under s. 25 of the Civil Aviation Act 2012, with HAL alleging that the CAA had set the price cap too low, and the airlines alleging that the CAA had set the price cap too high.
The CMA has provisionally decided that the CAA was not wrong in most of the decisions that were appealed. It has provisionally found three “relatively minor” or “small” errors in the CAA’s decision, which it is provisionally minded to remit back to the CAA for reconsideration.
The public announcement of the provisional determination is here.
Ravi Mehta and Tom Lowenthal acted for the CAA, led by George Peretz KC.
