Airlines repeat calls for BAA breakup
22.04.08
Airlines have called for Heathrow Airport owner BAA to ‘read the writing on the wall’ and get out of London’s airports, after the UK airports operator was criticised in a report released this morning by the Competition Commission and has been joined by a host of UK-based airlines demanding change.
Mike Rutter, regional budget airline Flybe’s chief commercial officer, said: ‘Rather than wait for the inevitable forced sell-off, we are calling for Ferrovial [BAA's majority shareholder] to read the writing on the wall and start to divest itself of at least three airports in order to improve customer focus, allow for investment and bring real competition to aviation in the UK’.
He said the airport operator should start by ridding itself of Gatwick, Southampton and Glasgow ‘in the spirit of cooperation’. [Flybe is the biggest airline at Southampton, if you wondered why it was thrown into the mix].
easyJet also welcomed the Commission’s 'emerging thinking', but said breaking up BAA does not go far enough. Its CEO, Andy Harrison, said: ‘We need a fundamental overhaul of UK airport regulation which will introduce more competition and tougher regulation. Transferring ownership of our major airports from one highly indebted monopolist to another will benefit no one apart from the City deal-makers. The combination of awful service, massive price increases and antiquated infrastructure makes it obvious to millions of passengers that the UK’s major airports are a shameful mess.’
Budget rival Ryanair said that it wants ‘monopoly’ replaced by ‘competition’. Its spokesman, Peter Sherrard, said: ‘The recent chaos at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, the continuing long passport and security queues at Stansted [its main base], and the 47% price increases at Gatwick Airport clearly proves that the BAA monopoly over the London airports is bad for consumers, bad for passengers and bad for UK tourism.’
Nigel Turner, bmi’s chief executive officer, is demanding ‘remedial action to be taken at the earliest opportunity’. He said: ‘The only option facing the regulators is the dismantling of BAA’s monopolistic grip. Only with separate airport ownership can the UK guarantee a healthy and competitive aviation industry to serve the wider consumer interest.’
Paul Charles, director of communications at Virgin Atlantic Airways, said: ‘It seems the Competition Commission have seen the light. They support the views of every airline and every passenger, that there is no competition at our major airports.'
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