BAA made to sell airports

THE UK’s anti-monopoly agency has warned BAA that it will have to sell three of its airports. The Competition Commission said that Gatwick, Glasgow and Stansted will have to go

“The most effective way to introduce competition in the southeast [of England] and in lowland Scotland is to require the three London airports and the two principal Scottish airports to be separately owned,” said Christopher Clarke, who chaired the airports inquiry.

“Under the common ownership of BAA, there is no competition. Under separate ownership, the airport operators, including BAA, will have a much greater incentive to be far more responsive to their customers, both airlines and passengers,” he added.

BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said that the Commission had not shown any clear evidence to show that the move would increase competition. He vowed to challenge the decision as far as he could.

“We remain concerned that its proposed remedies may actually delay the introduction of new runway capacity,” he added.

A final decision will be made in early March 2009.

Share this story