BAA ordered to sell Stansted by UK competition regulators

 THE UK Competition Commission has ordered British airport operator, BAA, to sell Stansted Airport, the nation's second largest air freight hub located 35 miles northeast of London.


This comes as the commission upheld a 2009 ruling requiring BAA to sell three of its seven airports in the UK within two years. The airport operator will henceforth have to sell either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce, adding that competition regulators said Stansted must be sold first with a "small overlap" between its disposal and that of one of the two Scottish airports.


BAA parent, the Madrid-based Grupo Ferrovial owns the now privatised British Airports Authority, has already sold London Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners in the US for US$2.4 billion.


BAA, which owns London Heathrow, announced that last year it handled 1.7 million tons of cargo at its six UK airports and Naples, Italy, an increase of 14.2 per cent compared to 2009. Stansted contributed 203,000 tons to the total, after volumes grew by 10.4 per cent year on year.


The report added that BAA said it would "carefully consider" the Commission's ruling before deciding on its next move.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)