Heathrow Airport is slamming the new £10 transit charge amid record passenger traffic

London’s Heathrow Airport has said a new £10 charge on visa-exempt passengers traveling through the hub is a “huge blow”, despite reporting a second month in a row of record passenger traffic.

Some 6.7 million passengers passed through the hub in March, an increase of eight percent on the previous year, bringing the year-to-date figure to 18.5 million.

North American and European Union and travel made up the lion’s share of the total, 1.6 million and 2.1 million respectively. The number of trips to the Asia-Pacific region increased by 18 percent to 892,000.

But Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye called on the government to ‘exempt airside transit passengers from the ETA scheme, to avoid encouraging passengers to spend and do business elsewhere.’

The new so-called Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) means passengers arriving in Britain from certain countries will have to pay £10 and wait up to three days for an online authorization – even if traveling via connecting flights.

It is controversial among airlines and airports because connecting passengers who do not go through border control still need a permit, making Britain an outlier compared to other countries.

The ETA was first introduced for Qatari nationals in November. Heathrow, which operates many more connecting flights than any other UK hub, said 19,000 fewer Qatari passengers have passed through since then.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were added on February 1, and the Ministry of Interior plans to roll this out across the board.