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The UK's aviation regulator has proposed "significant" increases in the amount of money airlines must pay to use London's two main airports.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says the higher charges will allow airport operator BAA to improve customer service standards at the sites.

Proposals to increase price controls at Heathrow and Gatwick come after the Competition Commission slammed the airports for the services they provide to air passengers.

The competition watchdog, which made the criticism earlier this year, was particularly critical of the long queues faced by travellers at the airports.

In order to improve standards the CAA is now proposing airlines should pay £11.97 per passenger to land at Heathrow in 2008/09 – a 15.6 per cent increase in real terms on the current price cap for the airport.

At Gatwick, it is proposed airlines should pay a landing charge of £6.07 per passenger – representing an 8.2 per cent increase on the current level.

The CAA also suggests further above-inflation increases in the charges should be implemented over the following four years.

It says although the proposed increases are significant, particularly at Heathrow, they reflect the higher costs BAA faces in terms of funding security operations and spending on capital projects.

But while proposing the airport operator should be allowed to raise charges, the CAA has also recommended that BAA should face tougher penalties for poor standards of service.

As such the owner of Heathrow and Gatwick would face higher penalty charges for lengthy queues at security processing points within the airports.

Commenting on the plans Dr Harry Bush, CAA group director of economic regulation, said: "The CAA considers it only right that, as airlines and passengers face the prospect of paying more to use each airport (significantly so at Heathrow), there should be greater financial incentives on the airport operator to deliver the facilities and services that give rise to those price increases."

But BAA claimed the regulator had failed to recognise the way the current security environment impacted upon its ability to improve services for passengers.

"While we welcome the evidence of movement in some areas, we believe the regulator has not recognised the significant challenges we all face in transforming passengers' daily experience and the new security reality in which we operate," the company stressed.

The group added "a sustained lack of investment" at its airports, due in part to a series of long planning delays, had meant services had not improved as they should have done.

"BAA is determined to make that investment, but we do not believe these proposals yet recognise the scale of what is required and the risk involved," the company concluded.