Gatwick has been put up for sale by BAA, just weeks after the Competition Commission said the operator should sell three of its airports in the South East.

In a statement today, BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said the process would begin immediately.

"Gatwick has long been an important and valuable part of BAA and the decision to sell was not taken lightly. We believe that the airport's customers, staff and business will benefit from the earliest possible resolution of current uncertainty.

"When the Competition Commission published its provisional findings, we said that we would be realistic in our response, though we disagree with the Commission's report and the analysis on which it is founded.

"We will continue to present our case, in respect of the South East airports and those in Scotland. At Stansted, we believe that a change of ownership would interfere with the process of securing planning approval for a second runway, which remains a key feature of Government air transport policy.

"The Commission itself states that a shortage of runway capacity in the South East is a main cause of poor service standards, but we believe its proposed remedies will delay delivery of that capacity.

"BAA will continue to change in many respects. We have a new management team. Our priority is to improve the quality of service we offer passengers and airlines.

"Success depends not only on our day to day management of our airports, but also on policy-makers taking the right decisions on runway capacity and future regulation.

"Our response to the Competition Commission's report, and our announcement concerning Gatwick, is intended to focus our efforts accordingly."

Easyjet quickly issued a response, saying the move was not a surprise but a "possible cause for alarm".

It claimed it has always argued that simply breaking up BAA will do nothing to improve competition because “Gatwick is a local monopoly and simply selling Gatwick to the highest bidder won’t change that fact”.

“Gatwick is Ferrovial’s way of reducing its debt burden �" but it means that UK airport policy is being dictated not by the Government but by the short-term financial constraints of a highly-indebted foreign owner,” it added.

Earlier this month, Virgin Atlantic said it was in talks with partners interested in forming a joint bid for the airport.

Other potential bidders include the owners of Manchester Airport and Australian-based MacQuarie.

Regulators have valued the airport at £1.8bn.

By Bev Fearis