BAA may be given more time to sell airports

News at Heathrow 22/11/2010

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Watchdog will consider giving the airport operator more time to shed holdings.

It is more than one-and-a-half years since Britain’s Competition Commission ruled that BAA must sell Stansted Airport and either Edinburgh Airport or Glasgow within two years. On Thursday, the watchdog said it would consider extending that deadline.

The Commission is looking to review the timescale of proposed sales. However, though the Competition Commission has said that it will accept submissions concerning the deadline, a spokesman said the Commission still stands by its original decision.

In March 2009, the Commission originally told BAA that it must divest some airport holdings in order to boost competition for passengers. BAA managed to challenge this order in the courts but last month, an appeals court reinstated the original order.

A spokesman for the Competition Commission said the watchdog considers the reinstated ruling to have been correct and despite accepting submissions regarding the order, the watchdog did not expect to change its decision. He added, however, that the Commission will particularly need to examine the timescale for proposed sales.

All parties interested in the matter have been invited to make representations to the Commission before 15 December to highlight if any developments over the last 18 months should merit changes to the manner in which BAA is broken up.

Government green light given for Delta expansion at Heathrow : 2010 : Qantas finally starts flying its A380s again

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