Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG, has again chastised Heathrow Airport for claiming that it will lose investors if it does not generate higher returns. Walsh stated that the company was spreading "scare stories" and expertly "gaming" Britain's regulatory system to bump up prices for airlines and passengers. Moreover, he states that the £392m purchase by Britain's second biggest pension scheme of an 8.65% stake in the hub airport contradicts its argument that it will lose investors.
"Without question there is no shortage of investors who would be willing to take a stake in Heathrow," said Walsh. "It is almost insulting that they announce the sale of a stake to a significant player like USS at the same time that they have been arguing that if they don't get excessive reward at Heathrow, investors will leave."
A Heathrow spokesman said: "There is no new capital investment for Heathrow as part of the USS transaction. One investor has sold, another has bought. Shareholders have not yet made anything approaching a market return on equity.