The UK airport regulator is allowing airports operator BAA to massively increase its fees. This is supposed to pay for better facilities and more stringent security measures.

For the year 2008/2009, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is allowing Heathrow charges to rise by 24 per cent and Gatwick by 21 per cent.

18 months ago, BAA was purchased for £10 billion by Ferrovial. Today it is struggling with a £9 billion debt taken on by its parent company.

At that time, the CAA said they would not be influenced by Ferrovial's high debt levels.

They ignored their own policy and caved in to intense pressure from BAA by allowing excessive price increases.

For Heathrow passengers, the rise is 17% more than the Competition Commission recommended in September 2007.

These increases are also more than proposed by the CAA itself in November 2007.

However, these increases were insufficient to fully satisfy BAA, who made a profit of £438 million last year, a rise of 10 per cent. BAA’s chief executive, Stephen Nelson, is to stepping down. For last year, the highest paid director’s package was worth £2.6 million, of which £1.5 was a non-recurring payment.

Currently the maximum charge is £9.28 per passenger at Heathrow, and up to £4.91 at Gatwick.

In September 2007, the UK's Competition Commission recommended raising the charges airlines pay to use Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

They recommended Heathrow's charges should increase from £9.28 to £10.96 per passenger while Gatwick's charges should rise from £4.91 to £5.48.

After the 2008-2009 timeframe, the Commission recommended that charges at Heathrow should rise at 7.5% more than the rate of inflation per year.

In November 2007, the UK airport regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) proposed that charges at Heathrow would increase to £11.97 per passenger in 2008/09 to land at Heathrow and £6.07 at Gatwick.

In March 2008, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is proposing that charges at Heathrow would increase to £12.80 per passenger in 2008/09 to land at Heathrow and £6.79 at Gatwick.

The charges for next year also include some charges that airlines currently pay to other organisations.

On a comparable basis, the airline charges will increase by 24% at Heathrow and 21% at Gatwick.

Airport	Current Prices	Competition Commission recommendation Sept 2007	CAA Proposal Nov 2007	CAA Proposal March 2008
Heathrow	£9.28	£10.96	£11.97	£12.80
Gatwick	£4.91	£5.48	£6.07	£6.79

Apart from these huge increases, the local residents have other Heathrow problems to consider. Like the proposed Heathrow expansion, with passengers increasing by 50 per cent by 2030 and flight paths going over Southall, Greenford and Northolt.