CAMPAIGNERS have reacted angrily to news that Heathrow Airport is to reduce and then suspend the Free Travel Zone in 2021.
Under the current scheme, journeys on buses between each of the Heathrow terminals and around the airport perimeter are free.
Heathrow, and its predecessor BAA, have subsidised the scheme since the opening of Terminal 5 in 2008.
Now, however, it says it needs to reduce operating costs during the pandemic but stresses the suspension is temporary and hopes it will be short-lived.
The scheme allows travel around the airport perimeter and into the terminals – which are not accessible by methods such as cycling or on foot – for both passengers and staff and the travelling public.
In an email to staff this week, Heathrow’s Surface Access Director, Tony Caccavone, said free travel would be suspended in stages from January.
Discounts on TfL Rail between Paddington and Heathrow and on Great Western Railway between Reading and Heathrow, will also end from January.
The Heathrow Travelcard scheme for buses and coaches was suspended with immediate effect on November 18.
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