Flybe renews call for sale of Southampton Airport
Flybe has called on the Competition Commission to force BAA to sell off Southampton Airport.
The regional airline said it was dismayed that the watchdog has not recommended the sale of Southampton in its provisional decision.
Flybe’s chief commercial officer Mike Rutter said: “The Competition Commission have got it wrong on Southampton Airport.
“Despite detailed evidence provided to them by Flybe, they have ignored the obvious fact that BAA have for years given Southampton a poor deal in comparison to their other airports in the South East.
“We are calling on the CC to revisit their findings, to actually undertake the research that they themselves admit is missing from their analysis and come back with a different answer in February when they publish their final report.”
Flybe said in the future BAA would continue to concentrate exclusively on Heathrow, pricing Southampton to deter competition with Heathrow “to the clear detriment of Southampton travellers”.
It said it had presented evidence to the Commission that BAA has consistently under-invested and over-priced in Southampton.
But Rutter said the airline welcomed the recommendation on the sale of Edinburgh airport and urged BAA/Ferrovial to start the process of disposal as quickly as they can.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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