Spanish-owned British airports operator BAA won part of its appeal today against a ruling by competition authorities that it must sell three of its seven airports in Britain.
An appeal tribunal found there was 'apparent bias' in the Competition Commission's ruling that BAA should sell two airports in London and one in Scotland to end a dominance judged to hurt both passengers and airlines.
The tribunal said it would hear further arguments from both BAA, owned by a consortium led by Spanish construction group Ferrovial, and the Competition Commission on how to proceed 'unless the parties can reach agreement on it.'
The ruling does not affect BAA's sale of Gatwick Airport near London, which it had already decided to press ahead with before the commission's decision. The airport, Britain's second busiest, was sold to US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion sterling in a deal that was completed earlier this month.
In March, the Competition Commission said BAA must also sell London's Stansted airport and either its Edinburgh or Glasgow hubs within the next two years.
BAA had challenged this timeframe as too short given the economic climate, but that argument was rejected by the tribunal today. However, the tribunal accepted BAA's contention that the commission was guilty of apparent bias in its decision.
BAA had argued that Peter Mozier, a member of the commission's airports inquiry panel, was connected to the Manchester Airport Group, which had been interested in buying Gatwick. BAA welcomed the ruling and said it would hold further talks with the commission.
BAA, which was privatised in 1987, also operates Heathrow airport, Southampton airport in southwest England and Aberdeen in Scotland.
