British Airports Authority (BAA) has announced that it is to sell Edinburgh Airport.
The announcement follows the Competition Commission’s decision that BAA must sell Edinburgh or Glasgow Airport. BAA hopes to make the sale of the airport by next summer.
The Competition Commission ruled earlier this year that London Stansted would have to be sold first, with Edinburgh or Glasgow to be sold after that. However, following a challenge by BAA, which argued that the market in the South East of England had changed substantially since the original decision in 2009, the Commission said that one of the Scottish airports should be put up for sale instead.
“Edinburgh is a great airport with a great team and a great future and we will be very sorry to see it leave BAA,” said BAA Chief Executive, Colin Matthews.
“We remain committed to Scotland and we will continue our long-term investment to improve passenger and airline experience at Aberdeen and Glasgow, as well as at Edinburgh until the sale is complete.”
Matthews admitted that choosing which airport to sell was a difficult decision for BAA.
Edinburgh Airport is Scotland’s largest airport with approximately 9 million passengers using it every year. In the past year, passenger numbers have grown by 6.1 per cent. Earlier this year the airport was named Best European Airport by ACI Europe.
The break-up of BAA’s ownership of UK airports can be seen as good news for UK travellers. For example, Gatwick’s new owners have made a £1 billion capital investment programme in the airport and continue to make considerable improvements to the customer experience at the airport.
