(Bloomberg) -- London’s Heathrow airport will be allowed to increase airline fees on a limited basis to help it ride out the coronavirus crisis, the U.K.’s aviation regulator said.

Heathrow can claw back 300 million pounds ($416 million) after submitting an application to recover 2.6 billion pounds, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement Tuesday. The U.K. hub’s full application will be considered in the next scheduled price review starting early next year.

Passenger numbers at what’s normally Europe’s busiest airport collapsed after curbs aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19 effectively wiped out demand on long-haul routes. Heathrow isn’t allowed to lift prices directly, and instead sought a boost to its regulatory asset base, the sum not recovered in airport charges that’s used in setting price controls.

While the CAA viewed Heathrow’s initial request as “disproportionate and not in the interests of consumers,” Director Paul Smith said the amount of relief granted reflects the exceptional circumstances facing the airport and will help it cope with “any potential surge in consumer demand later this year.”

The airport, controlled by interests including Spanish builder Ferrovial SA, the Qatar Investment Authority, private-equity firm Alinda Capital Partners and China Investment Corp., had said its initial application would lift fares by 1.20 pounds per passenger.

The CAA had rejected Heathrow’s initial application on Feb. 2, saying it would either fold the issue into work on the next regulatory settlement or make “a more limited and targeted intervention” now.

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