Heathrow issues 'down to low capacity'

Reported customer service problems at Heathrow Airport can be attributed to a "lack of capacity", a spokesman for BAA has said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live's Wake Up To Money programme, Simon Baugh acknowledged that there have been issues with queues, baggage handling and security.

However, he denied that these problems are related to the way in which these services are delivered or to inadequate management.

"We have got 68 million people a year travelling through an airport that was probably only designed for 40 to 45 million and we have only got two runways operating at about 98 per cent of their available capacity," Mr Baugh commented.

Earlier this month, BAA released figures showing that the number of passengers who used Heathrow Airport in July fell by 1.7 per cent compared with the previous month.

Over 6.4 million travellers passed through the hub last month, with more than 66.8 million doing so over the last 12 months.

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