Watchdog releases BAA report

After some of the UK’s biggest airlines went so far as to appear before parliament to protest BAA’s inefficient performance and its monopolistic hold on the country’s airports, a watchdog report by the Competition Commission says it won’t support demands of a total abolishment of BAA, but it did support much of the airlines’ complaints.

With no competition between the three London airports, Ryanair believes BAA has become complacent and the industry has lost a great deal of its possible dynamism. The commission found that seven BAA operated airports “may not be serving well the interests of either airlines or passengers.”

One of the airlines speaking out is bmi, whose chief executive officer Nigel Turner said, “We identified last year that BAA’s high market share for air passengers appears to prevent, restrict or distort airport competition within the UK and strongly believe that to ensure future real intra-airport competition in the UK, the only option facing the regulators is the dismantling of BAA’s monopolistic grip over the UK’s busiest airports in the South-East (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted) and in Scotland (Edinburgh and Glasgow). Only with separate airport ownership can the UK guarantee a healthy and competitive aviation industry to serve the wider consumer interest.”