Airport-owner BAA criticised by watchdog
- 00:01:44
- ITN
Airport-owner BAA criticised by watchdog
Airport-owner BAA "may not be serving well the interests of either airlines or passengers," the Competition Commission (CC) has said.The commission's findings came in an "emerging thinking" document ahead of its provisional report in August - which could see BAA ordered to sell one or more airports - followed by a final report due at the end of the year.BAA, which has been part of Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial since 2006, is the owner of the three main airports in the Southeast, namely Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, as well as Scotland's Edinburgh and Glasgow airports.It is currently under pressure from airlines for the amount it charges them to use its airports, which is capped by regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) but part determined by what BAA says it needs for investment.Inquiry chairman Christopher Clarke said: "There is no competition between BAA's three London airports, and only very limited competition from non-BAA airports (London City and Luton). Similarly, there is no competition between their two airports in lowland Scotland."He said areas of concern included "the apparent lack of responsiveness to the differing needs of its airline customers, and hence passengers" and BAA's approach to planning airport development.Mr Clarke said: "It seems largely to have limited itself to one major project at a time, for example Terminal 5."In recent weeks, both BAA and British Airways have come under fire for the shambolic opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 which left thousands of passengers stranded and baggage lost.Mr Clarke continued: "One of the principal reasons for structuring the privatised BAA in 1987 to include all three major London airports was to provide adequate airport capacity in the Southeast of England. Currently there is a shortage of capacity, notably runway capacity, to meet current and expected future demand."Even if the proposed expansion at both Stansted and Heathrow goes ahead within the expected timescales, this shortage will remain until at least 2015 and probably longer as a new runway at Heathrow could not be built until 2020."The CC said in a table based on passengers' perception of quality of service at 101 international airports in 2007, Heathrow ranked 90th, Gatwick 75th and Stansted 74th. It said rankings were "particularly poor" for security queue waiting times, with Stansted 98th, Heathrow 97th and Gatwick 93rd.
ITN | April 22, 2008
