MAG target Gatwick put up for sale

MANCHESTER Airports Group target Gatwick, the UK’s second largest airport, has been put up for sale by its owner BAA.

The move comes four weeks after the Competition Commission said BAA may have to sell three of its UK airports because of concerns over its dominance of the market.

A number of potential bidders have already been mooted for the airport which is valued at around £1.8bn, including a possible joint bid from Manchester Airports Group (MAG) and airline Virgin Atlantic as well as Australian group Macquarie and Germany’s Fraport.

Last month, the Competition Commission said in an interim ruling that BAA may have to sell three of its seven UK airports.

Although the Commission does not release its full report until next year, it added that BAA may need to sell two of its three airports in the South East – Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted

BAA ruled out selling Heathrow, which leaves Gatwick and Stansted.

In a statement, BAA said it had decided to begin the process of selling Gatwick “immediately”.

“Gatwick has long been an important and valuable part of BAA and the decision to sell was not taken lightly,” said BAA chief executive Colin Matthews.

“We believe that the airport’s customers, staff and business will benefit from the earliest possible resolution of current uncertainty.

“When the Competition Commission published its provisional findings, we said that we would be realistic in our response, though we disagree with the Commission’s report and the analysis on which it is founded.”

The Civil Aviation Authority has just increased the amount Gatwick – where 35 million passengers passed through in 2007 – can charge in landing fees.

But it is operating on one runway and approaching full capacity.