The UK's second-largest airport, Gatwick, has been BAA to sell London Gatwick ...
BAA 'may have to sell three UK airports' ...
Watchdog to set out plans for BAA ...
BAA expects forced airport sales ... put up for sale by its owner BAA.

The move comes four weeks after the Competition Commission said BAA may have to sell three of its UK airports because of market dominance concerns.

Several firms are said to be interested in buying Gatwick, which has been valued at £1.8bn by regulators.

Potential bidders include Australian company MacQuarie, Germany's Fraport, and the owners of Manchester airport.

Steve Ridgway, chief executive at Virgin Atlantic, also said: "We are delighted that BAA has ended the uncertainty over Gatwick's future.

"Virgin Atlantic would relish the opportunity to bid for Gatwick as part of a consortium and inject our customer service expertise into any future running of the airport."

Sale process begins

Last month, the Competition Commission said in an interim ruling that BAA may have to sell three of its seven UK airports.

Although the Commission does not release its full report until next year, it added that BAA may need to sell two of its three airports in the South East - Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted

BAA, which is owned by Ferrovial of Spain, ruled out selling Heathrow, which leaves Gatwick and Stansted.

The company also operates airports at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland, and Southampton in southern England.

In a statement, BAA said it had decided to begin the process of selling Gatwick "immediately".

"Gatwick has long been an important and valuable part of BAA and the decision to sell was not taken lightly," said BAA chief executive Colin Matthews.

"We believe that the airport's customers, staff and business will benefit from the earliest possible resolution of current uncertainty.

"When the Competition Commission published its provisional findings, we said that we would be realistic in our response, though we disagree with the Commission's report and the analysis on which it is founded."

Mr Matthews told the BBC that the market would set the price that the airport would realise.

He also told the BBC that selling the airport was "the right thing for BAA, for Gatwick, to do".

The Civil Aviation Authority has just increased the amount Gatwick - where 35 million passengers passed through in 2007 - can charge in landing fees.

But it is operating on one runway and approaching full capacity.

(BBC)

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