Gatwick Goes: BAA Must Sell Three Airports

3:52pm UK, Thursday March 19, 2009

BAA must sell its airports at Gatwick, Stansted and either Edinburgh or Glasgow, the Competition Commission has confirmed.

All three must be sold in sequence within the next two years, beginning with Gatwick, followed by Stansted and then one of the Scottish airports.

The CC report also demands specific improvements in Aberdeen and recommends the Civil Aviation Authority take specific action at Heathrow.

Christopher Clarke, who chaired the CC inquiry, declared the break-up the "only way to address comprehensively the detriment to passengers and airlines from the complete absence of competition" in Scotland and south east England.

BAA called the CC analysis "flawed" and said "its remedies may be impractical in current economic conditions".

Better airport facilities in the UK and lower prices will be the result and we therefore congratulate the CC on its findings.

Paul Charles of Virgin Atlantic

But airlines welcomed the report and the improvements it could herald.

Virgin Atlantic communications director Paul Charles said: "The break-up of BAA is something Virgin Atlantic has requested for many years and it will undoubtedly benefit consumers.

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BAA was blamed for chaos at T5

"Better airport facilities in the UK and lower prices will be the result and we therefore congratulate the CC on its findings."

The report follows a two-year investigation into the effective running of the UK's airport network.

The commission said it had found competition problems at each of BAA's seven UK airports.

In an earlier report - last August - Mr Clarke spoke of BAA's "lack of responsiveness to the needs of its airline customers and a lack of initiative in planning capacity".

BAA has been particularly under fire for its performance at Heathrow where passengers have complained of baggage problems and long queues.

The airport operator, together with British Airways, has also had to take its share of the blame for the disastrous opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 a year ago.

Manchester Airport Group (MAG), which runs Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside airports, is one of the companies in the running to take over Gatwick, with a sale figure likely to be around £2bn.

MAG is rumoured to be also interested in operating whichever of the Scottish airports BAA is forced to give up.