Manchester Airport interested in buying Stansted and Scottish hub
17.05.11
Manchester Airports Group has confirmed its interest in buying Stansted and possibly one of Glasgow or Edinburgh airports, Travel Weekly reports. It would seek to bring in more long-haul airlines and cut Stansted’s dependence on low-cost airlines in general and Ryanair in particular, a spokesman told the trade newspaper.
Current Stansted owner BAA has been ordered by the Competition Commission to sell Stansted, along with either Glasgow or Edinburgh, although the timetable for the sell-off is currently unclear. MAG external affairs director Jonathan Bailey told the Guild of Travel Management Companies conference in Abu Dhabi: ‘We plan to acquire more airports, in the first instance in the UK.’ The group currently owns Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside.
Mr Bailey told Travel Weekly that a MAG takeover of Stansted would see a sharp change of strategy at the airport. ‘We would fight hard to win traffic from Heathrow and Gatwick. At Stansted, 70% of traffic is Ryanair and 90% is low-cost. Ryanair is ruthlessly efficient and in many respects very good to work with. But it is big risk being so dependent on one airline and that would put off many potential bidders. We would want to bring in other, long-haul carriers and change the mix of traffic.’
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