Leading airlines have demanded an urgent overhaul of how Heathrow airport is regulated as part of a first-ever joint vision of the future of the London hub.

The Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee (AOC), Arora Group, International Airlines Group (IAG), and Virgin Atlantic, want the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority to conduct a fundamental review.

The demand is part of ‘Heathrow Reimagined: A Better Hub for Britain’, a campaign launched today following support from the British government for a third runway at an expanded Heathrow.

The airlines say they want to see the UK’s only hub airport and the largest in Europe regulated “for the benefit of consumers, businesses, and the UK economy” and they say they will work with industry, government and the CAA to achieve reform.

Nigel Wicking, chief executive of Heathrow AOC, said: “Heathrow is rapidly falling behind other major airports around the globe both in facilities and service to airline customers, whilst having the unenviable accolade of being the most expensive for airport charges.

“This cannot continue. The airline community want to offer travellers, to and from the UK, a great experience through Heathrow and we want growth, also avoiding the disproportionate costs we too often see by Heathrow Airport Limited.”

Heathrow Reimagined is the first time the airline parties have come together to express a shared view that the current regulatory model is not fit for purpose.

They said in a statement: “Heathrow Airport Limited’s substantial market power has, for too long, given it an incentive to spend inefficiently which means it has acted against the interest of both consumers and airlines.

“In the 15 years since the last major review into UK aviation by the Competition Commission, Heathrow has become the world’s most expensive airport, with passengers and airlines today paying £1.1 billion more each year than if charges were in line with equivalent major European airports.

“Instead of being a source of national pride, Heathrow has failed to modernise and in turn, let down consumers, carriers and the British economy. In recent years, Heathrow has also dropped out of Skytrax’s Top 20 airports for passenger experience, and surveys label the airport as the ‘most stressful in Europe’.”

Surinder Arora, founder and chairman of the Arora Group, said: “I have worked in and around Heathrow for several decades and have seen with my own eyes the decline in what used to be the world’s best airport.

“The current monopoly at Heathrow doesn’t only vastly overcharge passengers on aviation fees but also on their parking and a variety of other services as it continues to stand out as the most expensive airport in the world by a long way.

“We are delighted to be working with the airlines to ask the CAA to look more carefully at the regulatory issues which lead to such high prices and seize the opportunity for competition to improve Heathrow’s offer to passengers.

“This is critical for the future of the airport separately to the third runway debate – the regulatory landscape for Heathrow must change regardless.”

Heathrow Reimagined calls on the CAA to investigate what has gone wrong at the airport and to address the root causes “before passengers and airlines are locked into higher charges for decades to come”.

“To achieve this, and to ensure future investment offers value for money, there must be wholesale reform, which is necessary and achievable without delaying spades in the ground for expansion,” the campaign stated.

Luis Gallego, chief executive of BA parent IAG, said: “As an international airline group, we compare the experience for passengers at Heathrow with other airports, and the experience does not match the cost.

“We would like to work with the industry, the Government and the CAA and recommend an urgent review in to the regulatory system at Heathrow, to improve the affordability and experience for travellers, so that it can become a leading global airport once again.”

Heathrow Reimagined points to alternative other hubs that it claims have stimulated growth “in vastly more efficient ways, providing value for money” including new terminals at Barcelona, Frankfurt, Madrid and Munich that all cost half or less, when adjusting for terminal size, than the upgrades to Heathrow Terminals 2 and 5.

It adds Istanbul is developing a completely new airport with capacity for up to 200 million passengers for €12 billion, while New York JFK will open its New Terminal One in 2030, the centrepiece of a £15 billion airport wide transformation.

Another example cites is Singapore, Changi that is creating a fifth passenger terminal and a third runway for an estimated £8 billion, boosting capacity by 50 million passengers.

Following the launch of Heathrow Reimagined and the Campaign’s joint submission to the CAA, it will now seek to actively engage with the wider industry and government to achieve its primary objective of fundamental reform that can serve as a first step towards delivering value.

Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said: “The current regulatory model at London Heathrow is simply not fit for purpose and does not sufficiently constrain Heathrow’s monopoly power.

“Despite having the highest passenger charges in the world, Heathrow is failing consumers, airlines and the UK economy, with ageing facilities and a declining customer experience. The regulatory framework which governs Heathrow must be reformed and we call on the CAA to undertake a fundamental review.”