Heathrow’s losses from the Covid-19 pandemic have hit £3.4 billion. The west London airport said it is continuing to lose money despite reducing its operating costs by more than 30%. But it insisted it has the “financial strength” to survive “until the market recovers”, with £4.1 billion of cash. Some 10.2 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in the first nine months of the year, compared with 19.0 million during the same period in 2020. Proposals announced by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) last week to allow the airport to increase passenger charges by up to 76% “do not go far enough to ensure financeability”, Heathrow claimed. The CAA is planning to raise the cap on the average charge per passenger over the next five years to between £24.50 and £34.40. Heathrow had called for the range to be between £32 and £43. The current average charge is £19.60. The airport’s …