BAA should sell Stansted as well – Ryanair
Airport owner BAA’s decision to put Gatwick up for sale does not go far enough, according to Ryanair.
The no-frills carrier called on the company to also off-load Stansted, where it is a major operator, as well as one of its Scottish airports.
Preliminary findings of a Competition Commission inquiry have already suggested that BAA should be broken up.
Meanwhile, ABTA welcomed the move by BAA following the recommendation last month by the Competition Commission that BAA sell two out of the three London airports it owns.
ABTA recommended to the commission that Gatwick be sold by BAA to enable a new owner to concentrate resources on the UK’s second largest airport, which is the main gateway from the UK for charter flights provided by UK tour operators.
Chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “We welcome this announcement by BAA, but any new owner for Gatwick must be subject to proper ongoing regulation to ensure that they provide the level of investment and performance that a modern international airport requires.
“Lack of capacity at Gatwick is bad for customers, bad for the industry and bad for the environmentâ€.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary described the Gatwick sell-off announcement as “just the latest attempt by the BAA monopoly to get itself off the hook of the Competition Commission’s recommendationsâ€.
He said: “Airlines and passengers have been abused for many years with high prices and abysmal service at all of the BAA’s London and Scottish airports and the “trick†of selling off Gatwick won’t end this abusive monopoly.â€
O’Leary called on the Competition Commission and the UK government to take “early steps†to force the early sale of Stansted and at least one of BAA’s Scottish airports, “so that real competition can be introduced in time for summer 2009â€.
“The BAA monopoly wants to hang on to Heathrow and Stansted, because this is where they continue to propose gold plated Taj Mahal facilities in the hope that its useless regulator, the CAA, will continue to reward it with above inflation price increases as it delivers a third rate service to airlines and passengers,†claimed O’Leary.
“The sale of Stansted will lead to the earlier development of a second runway and terminal because these will be designed to meet the needs of users.
“It will also end the current grotesque spectacle that the principal objectors to Stansted’s Taj Mahal planning applications are the Stansted airlines themselves who are unanimously opposed to the gold plated waste being proposed by the BAA monopoly which does not meet the needs of users.
“Users at Stansted who continue to suffer long queues at security and at passport control, as well as above inflation price increases, continue to call for the urgent sale of Stansted.â€
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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