BAA May be required to sell two UK airports

 

British Airports Ltd (BAA), which is itself a subsiduary of Spain's Ferrovial, may have to sell Stansted airport and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport after the UK anti-trust authority upheld it's previous decision in requiring them to do so.

Earlier this week the Competition Commission (CC) ruled that there had been no "material change in circumstances" since their recommendation in 2009 that they sell the airports. BAA sold Gatwick airport in October in anticipation of a negative ruling by the CC.

The Commission's earlier decision was appealed by BAA, but the court upheld the original ruling. In February of this year, the Supreme Court refused BAA permission to appeal further.

BAA issued a brief statement to the press in which they continued to insist the circumstances surrounding the CC's rulings in 2009 had changed, adding it would "carefully consider" the CC's decision.

BAA had cited the UK government's policy of ruling out new runway capacity in southeast England as cause for reconsideration.

The Competition Commission invited responses before publishing its final verdict in May or June.