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'Passengers suffering under BAA monopoly'
Rashid Razaq12.08.08
Airline passengers are suffering delays and overcrowding because of BAA's stranglehold on London's airports, a damning watchdog's report says.
The Competition Commission could now force the company, which is owned by Ferrovial in Spain, to sell off Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted.
Businesses and airlines have been calling for BAA to be broken up and Gatwick - valued at around £2billion - is tipped as the most likely to be sold.
The Competition Commission will unveil detailed reforms next week focusing on ownership after a 16-month investigation found the lack of competitors to BAA "adversely affected" the industry.
Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic have complained of high landing charges and sub-standard service because BAA, which also owns Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton, has a monopoly over south-east England and Scotland.
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said last week that his company would be interested in bidding for Stansted. He pledged to increase passenger numbers from 24 million to 40 million by halving landing fees and building a second runway and terminal.
British Airways has also lobbied the Department for Transport to introduce new rules to force BAA to expand its London airports.
The Competition Commission has also spoken to rival airport operators on how to ensure competition in the future.
BAA has complained that the main obstacle to improving services is the lack of runway capacity - the struggle to build a third runway at Heathrow, Europe's busiest and most congested airport, illustrative of their difficulties. The company's finances have been affected by a five year price-cap imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority at Heathrow and Gatwick.
Reader views (2)
With the millions of seats and thousands of flights being cancelled for the next 12 months, I cannot see how runway space can still be considered a major factor.
As each of the Heathrow terminals seems to be dedicated to a group of airlines (eg t4 is Alitalia, KLM, Air Malta and Air Kenya, while t5 is BA) each with their own baggage handlers, surely they should have control over the terminal rather than BAA. Then we can have competition for which terminal customers prefer to travel through.
- Graham, Reading, England
Ryanair buying Stanstead, give me a break... They'd charge you to walk in the terminal..
- Mark, London
