THE company which owns Condor is rumoured to be interested in buying Gatwick Airport after it was announced this morning that the British Airports Authority is to sell it.
MacQuarie is one of three companies said to be keen to buy the airport, a little more than a month after it completed a takeover of Condor Group.
Fraport and Richard Branson’s Virgin are the others reportedly interested. BAA will put Gatwick, which is valued at £1.8bn. by regulators, on the market after the Competition Commission recommended the sale of three of its seven UK airports.
The commission released its preliminary findings into the operator’s control of the UK’s largest airports last month and added that BAA should be forced to sell two of its three airports in the south-east – Heathrow and Stansted are the others.
BAA has repeatedly said it had ‘no intention’ of selling Heathrow.
Flybe, which has long campaigned for the break-up of BAA’s UK airport ownership to increase competition, welcomed the news this morning.
‘We have been saying for years that the BAA monopoly of airports in south-east England is bad for everyone, not least of which the travelling public,’ said chief commercial officer Mike Rutter.
‘It is crucial that all relevant regulatory bodies ensure that any new owner does not saddle itself with unsustainable debt in order to buy Gatwick.
‘A sale should increase competition and bring about service improvements, not simply continue with more of the same for long-suffering passengers and airlines alike.’
Mr Rutter added that Flybe looked forward to BAA announcing the sale of one of its Scottish lowlands airports (Glasgow or Edinburgh) and Southampton in order to bring further benefits to passengers.
Article posted on 17th September, 2008 - 1.00pm
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