Quality of Stansted airport unacceptable

The Competition Commission has reported that many Stansted airport customers have complained bitterly about the poor service they have received at that airport since 2002. The commission commented that the airport operator, BAA, had “operated against the public interest.”

The watchdog group is recommending that BAA, owned by the Spanish Grupo Ferrovial, be punished for its poor service performance by introducing a rebate scheme, such as the one in place at Gatwick airport, under which the operator is required to pay penalties for reports of poor performance.

Although the commission acknowledges the problems that resulted from the additional security measures introduced in 2006, it stressed: “We believed that BAA could have done more to meet the needs of its customers.

“We found that Stansted failed to manage security queuing and queue times to avoid unacceptable delays to passengers, crew and flights, and consequently did not further the reasonable interests of the users of the airport.”

The Competition Commission added: “We concluded that BAA’s conduct had operated against the public interest.”

BAA was also criticized by the watchdog group about its consultation process regarding the airport expansion proposals, which noted that it “raised significant concerns.”

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.stanstedairport.com