British competition authorities yesterday ordered Spanish-owned airports operator BAA to sell London's Gatwick and Stansted airports, as well as Edinburgh or Glasgow, within the next two years.
The Competition Commission (CC) said in a landmark ruling that BAA, which is owned by Spanish construction group Ferrovial, must sell three of its seven air hubs in Britain to prevent the operator having a dominant market position.
"The CC will require BAA to sell both Gatwick and Stansted as well as either Edinburgh or Glasgow," the watchdog said in a statement.
"In its final report on BAA's ownership of seven UK airports... the CC also stipulates that BAA must sell all three airports within two years." The watchdog said the disposal of Gatwick was initiated in September 2008 by BAA, adding that the sale process was already under way.
Gatwick, largely used for charter flights, is the second-biggest airport in Britain after Heathrow near London, and is the 10th-busiest in the world, according to the official Gatwick website.
The CC, which had already revealed the findings in a provisional report published in December, added that BAA's airports ownership prevented competition in the marketplace.
"The report finds competition problems with adverse effects for both passengers and airlines at all seven of BAA's UK airports," the CC said.
"A key problem at BAA's airports in the South-East and in lowland Scotland is common ownership which precludes any competition between them."
The CC watchdog added that the airports would be sold in sequence, starting with Gatwick, then Stansted and Edinburgh or Glasgow.
"We are confident that the sale of these airports will bring substantial benefits to passengers and airlines," said Christopher Clarke, who chaired the CC inquiry.
"We expect that the new airport owners, with the operating capabilities and financial resources to develop them as effective competitors, will have a much greater incentive than BAA to be more responsive to their customers."
BAA said it would carefully study the CC report before deciding whether to respond - but stated that the analysis was "flawed".