BAA accused of abusing its power :: 28/02/2008 :: Airport Parking News

Some say BAA is unfairly using its power to acqurie new land for parking

The British Airports Authority (BAA), operator of Heathrow Airport, is being accused of having taken advantage of the powers granted to the organization by law. The group is being blamed for unnecessarily increasing access fees to forecourts in the airport. An outcry is beginning to go up over BAA’s threat to seize the land of rival parking operators, as well.

BAA only lately expanded its parking facilities off the airport grounds, which is almost unprecedented for an airport operator, which generally restricts its commercial activities to within the airport compound. BAA currently offers Pink Elephant and Parking Express park and ride services.

BAA holds compulsory purchase powers which would legally allow the group to seize land currently held by rivals in the airport parking industry, which many see as an abuse of power and an unfair move.

According to John McGlynn, a member of the Glasgow-based Airlink group, BAA is discussing the possibility of increasing charges by 300 per cent. If the changes occur, Airlink would go from paying BAA £5,000 annually to £150,000 annually in fees.

A statement from BAA on the issue read: "We are not bullying these companies. We rightly insist that if people want to offer a service they do so in a way which does not disadvantage others, including ourselves."