BAA bashed by Competition Commission

BAA’s ownership of seven UK airports ‘may not be serving well the interests of either airlines or passengers’, according to the Competition Commission.

In its ‘emerging thinking’ report, the watchdog said BAA, owner of Heathrow and Gatwick and itself owned by Spanish company Ferrovial, ‘dominates the airports markets in the South East of England and in lowland Scotland’, and its next report, in August, could call on BAA to sell one or more of its airports.

Emphasising that it had yet to reach conclusions, the Competition Commission said it would set out its remedies to any competition problems in August, ‘whether requiring the sale of one or more of BAA’s airports or otherwise’.

Christopher Clarke, chairman of the BAA airports inquiry, said, ‘We are particularly concerned by [BAA’s] apparent lack of responsiveness to the differing needs of its airline customers, and hence passengers.’ While BAA welcomed the report, recently installed chief executive Colin Matthews questioned the assumption that a different ownership structure would deliver new capacity and new investment more effectively.

Meanwhile, within the smaller company realm, £88 million sector star Air Partner delighted investors with results for the half to January showing profit before tax lifted 12 per cent to £3.9 million and a dividend hike to 7.4p (2007: 6.7p). ‘Today, Air Partner serves more clients, has greater sales revenue and delivers higher profits than at any time in its 47-year history,’ enthused chief executive David Savile.