The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has today released statistics showing that service quality at both Heathrow and Gatwick has improved over the past six months.

Service quality is now better than in the same period in 2007. Security queuing times have improved markedly at both airports since 2007, while improvements have also been seen in cleanliness and pier service in most terminals.

However, standards have not yet been achieved consistently across all services at all terminals. As a result, BAA has paid £7.34m in rebates where it has failed to meet the required standards at the airports in the six months from April to September 2008.

Some elements of performance have failed to meet the stricter standards in each of the six months so far since 1 April 2008, including:

Heathrow Terminal 3 - departure lounge seating;
Heathrow Terminal 4 - pier service;
Gatwick South Terminal - departure lounge seating; cleanliness and wayfinding;
Gatwick North Terminal - departure lounge seating and pier service

The CAA has sought an explanation from both airports of why these targets have been missed and what the plans and timescales are for meeting the targets in the future.

The CAA is planning to audit the measurement of the service quality schemes in early 2009, to reassure stakeholders that performance is reported accurately.