British airport operator BAA has announced the sale of Gatwick, Britain's second busiest airport, to US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion (€1.6 billion). GIP already owns London City Airport.
The deal comes a year after BAA's Spanish owner Ferrovial put Gatwick up for sale, amid competition concerns about the operator's market dominance.
BAA is currently involved in an appeal against a ruling by the Competition Commission that it should sell three of its airports - Gatwick and Stansted and one of either Edinburgh or Glasgow.
It said today that proceeds will be used to repay part of its debt pile, which stood at £9.6 billion at the end of June.
