Gatwick Airport Sale Confirmed

Wednesday 17th September 2008

After much rumour and speculation BAA have announced plans for the sale of Gatwick Airport.

Gatwick Airport - valued currently at around £1.8 billion

It is believed that the airport being put up for sale is a result of the Competition Commission findings that were published recently. Our article reporting on this can be found here.

Speaking on the sale Colin Matthews, BAA Chief Executive said;

"We have decided to begin the process of selling Gatwick Airport immediately. Gatwick is one of Europe's premier airports, the busiest single-runway airport in the world, and it was used by 35 million passengers last year.

Gatwick has long been an important and valuable part of BAA and the decision to sell was not taken lightly. 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."

There has been extensive coverage in the media on potential bidders for the airport, with particular attention seeming to be paid to the possibility of consortium involving Virgin Atlantic boss Richard Branson purchasing the airport.

Speaking in an interview on the BBC website Branson said that he would be happy being part of a consortium that could purchase Gatwick Airport, describing the hub as "an excellent airport" that was "well positioned." He went on to state that if a consortium involving his group were to buy the airport Virgin would attempt to bring some of their "passenger expertise" to Gatwick preventing long queues at areas such as passport control. He also envisaged a time where passengers would get "the same experience on the ground as they have in the air." This interview can be found here.

The future owners of the airport are currently unclear, with some interest also believed to have come from the owners of Manchester Airport. One thing is apparent however, as the following months pass a clearer picture should begin to emerge as to the future of the airport, and the owners that will take it on.