Industry reaction to BAA airports sell-off ruling
*Bob Atkinson, travel expert at travelsupermarket.com: “With regards to next steps, we expect to see Glasgow sold and Edinburgh retained due to the Edinburgh airport’s growth potential and less reliance on holiday traffic.
“It has demonstrated regulatory gaming by BAA allied with profound weaknesses in how our airports are regulated.
“The break-up of BAA has been the inevitable outcome of these failures, but break-up alone will not resolve the problems of individual monopoly airports.
“The responsibility now rests with government, in its current review, to ensure that airports and regulation are not allowed to fail airlines and their passengers again”
*David O’Brien, chairman of the Stansted Airline Consultative Committee: “Passenger numbers at Stansted are in freefall, driven downwards by high airport charges and BAA monopoly indifference.
“The airlines can reverse this trend if new owners deliver what airlines and their passengers need – efficient facilities and lower costs.”
*Cheapflights’ CEO Chris Cuddy: “Cheapflights welcomes any initiative that improves the consumer’s ‘end-to-end’ travel experience.
“Competition is good for consumers. Well funded owners of the three airports should bring fresh impetus to improving services and facilities for both consumers and airlines through new medium to long term investment.
“Essentially the welfare of both groups is inextricably bound together.
“However, putting airports services and customers first under the proposals for the CAA could conceivably backfire if airport charges go ‘sky-high’.
“The ability of airlines to operate at sustainable margins has a huge effect on the passenger experience; the airlines have to manage costs to meet operational expenses and higher charges as well as taxes.
“These do eventually impact on the paying passenger as airlines either pass on or try to find ways to meet or reduce costs – as the prospect of perhaps paying to go to the loo whilst airborne suggests!”
Phil Davies
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