Hello and welcome to the Independence Daily Travel podcast with me Simon Calder.

Today, well, wherever you are going, if it's to and from the UK, there's a fair chance you will be going through Heathrow Airport.

By far the busiest in London in the UK and previously in Europe, although that crown has

slipped a little recently. It's in the news for a couple of reasons today, and goodness me,

it's only lunchtime, but already things are heating up. The first bit of news broke at 7 o'clock

this morning, passenger charges, according to the Civil Aviation Authority, are going to fall from around

£30 today to £26 by 2026.

The Civil Aviation Authority chief executive who I spoke to said, it's clear that Heathrow's

shareholders will have to work harder over the next

five years to provide a service. And he also says that the rules that he as the regulator

set will include service quality targets. So that will be everything from the lengths of the

queues that people are having to

line up into the passenger satisfaction surveys that are carried out.

Immediately, the boss of Heathrow, John Holland Kay, said,

this is all wrong.

You're underestimating what it takes to deliver a good passenger service

in terms of the operating costs, in terms of the investment that's needed and for the investors to

finance it. And he says these elements of the CAA's proposals will only result in passengers

getting a worse experience in Heathrow as investment in service dries up.

Well, that is going on at the same time.

Airlines UK, which is the body representing UK registered carriers, says Heathrow is the most expensive airport in the world and we want cuts

further to bring them into line with other European hubs and that was backed up by the

...