BAA chief explains decision to sell Edinburgh
BAA has opted to sell Edinburgh rather than Glasgow Airport because it thinks the former will attract more bidders and a higher price, claimed BAA chief executive Colin Matthews.
The airports operator was ordered to sell one of the two Scottish hubs by the Competition Commission in 2009 and BAA announced today that it had decided to seek buyers for Edinburgh.
"I want to be clear that we would prefer to keep both airports," said Matthews, "but given we had to sell one the decision was pretty straightforward."
He said Edinburgh, the largest of the two airports in terms of passengers numbers and flights, would be easier to sell than Glasgow.
He said Edinburgh should "generate a long line of bidders" as it had proved to be resilient during the economic downturn.
Passenger numbers at the airport have grown 6.1% over the past 12 months and 9.5% since the start of the year.
"Glasgow is a great airport too and we are committed to it for the future," added Matthews. He said he was sure the airport would "enjoy great growth" but added: "Who knows when the Scottish economy will eventually pick up?"
BAA has yet to put a price on Edinburgh but Matthews said he was confident it would generate a lot of interest.
BAA will spend a couple of months preparing the paperwork and Edinburgh will put up for sale early in the New Year.
It had originally been ordered to sell Stansted before the Scottish airports but as BAA is continuing to challenge the Competition Commission's ruling that it should dispose of the London airport it was told last week that it must bring forward the sale of Edinburgh or Glasgow.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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