UK regulator rejects Heathrow request for pandemic cushion

London: Britain's aviation regulator rejected Heathrow's request for an increase to its regulatory asset base of 2.6 billion pounds ($3.6 billion), instead offering the country's biggest airport a 300 million pound adjustment to cover pandemic losses.

Heathrow's passenger numbers have plunged over the last year and remained more than 80% lower in recent months at levels last seen in the 1970s, pushing its losses to around 3 billion pounds. The airport therefore asked Britain's Civil Aviation Authority, the CAA, for an increase in its regulatory asset base (RAB), part of a funding model set by the regulator that maintains an appropriate level of risk and reward for investors while setting the charges paid by passengers.