BAA, owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, will have to dispose of
Stansted airport northeast of London and either Edinburgh or Glasgow airports
in Scotland within two years, after the court said an original ruling by the
Competition Commission had not been influenced by bias.
BAA said in a statement on Wednesday it was disappointed by
the ruling and would be seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
However, Juan Moreno, an analyst at Mirabaud Finanzas, said
he thought BAA had exhausted most direct appeal options. “BAA’s main objective
with these appeals was to buy time, which they’ve achieved,” he said.
Late last year BAA, which also owns London’s Heathrow
airport, won an appeal against the Competition Commission, opening the door for
fresh talks on a decision that its control of Britain’s airports should be
broken up.
BAA argued that the Commission’s March ruling had been
influenced by bias, which was upheld by the tribunal.
The Competition Commission welcomed the ruling and said it
strove to keep its investigations impartial.
BAA sold Gatwick, London’s second busiest airport, to Global
Infrastructure Partners for 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) last October.
Shares in Ferrovial in Madrid, which have risen a third in
the past three months, were flat at 7.5 euros by 1110 GMT.
