Air Transport

UK airport operator BAA’s chief executive-designate Colin Matthews has committed to improving standards as the embattled company prepares to open London Heathrow’s new Terminal 5.

Matthews is succeeding Stephen Nelson who has resigned and will step down from his post at the beginning of April.

BAA, which was taken over by Spanish company Ferrovial two years ago, has been dealing with months of adverse publicity over passenger congestion, security-related delays and other problems.

It hopes that the opening of Terminal 5 on 27 March will go some way towards repairing the company’s image.

Matthews says: “Terminal 5 shows the future BAA wants for all its passengers and I am determined to continue to raise standards across all our airports. No-one underestimates the size of that challenge, or the difficulties we face on a daily basis in delivering it.

“But, equally, I am fully aware of how significant transforming our airports is for the future of this country.”

BAA chairman Sir Nigel Rudd says: “We are now entering a new era in which we have not only to complete the transformation of our airports that Terminal 5 has begun but also meet the new demands for quality service and environmental responsibility.

“This is also a period in which BAA will be to the fore in arguing for a new regulatory framework which recognises those priorities.”

Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news