BAA airport sales must go ahead

The British Airports Authority (BAA) has been told it must sell two of its UK airports, after a ruling by the Competition Commission was upheld.

BAA will now have to find buyers for Stansted Airport in Essex and either Edinburgh or Glasgow airports, in a move that the Competition Commission said will hold significant benefits for both passengers and airlines.

The Commission had originally made the ruling two years ago, but the company launched a series of appeals in the hope of overturning it.

In a statement released today, the Commission said that had "provisionally concluded that the sale of the airports is fully justified and that passengers and airlines would still benefit from greater competition with the airports under separate ownership."

Having already sold Gatwick airport for £1.5 billion, Spanish-owned BAA had argued that the sale was no longer necessary, due to the government's blocking of expansions at Heathrow airport. A court of appeal ruling in October 2010 upheld the Commission's stance, however, and the final appeal process for that ruling this week went in the Commission's favour as well.

The company has told that they must focus on selling Stansted first, as the new ownership of that airport will have the greatest benefits for passengers.

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