BAA loses another appeal in its fight to keep Stansted Airport
BAA has pledged to fight on in its attempts to keep Stansted Airport, despite losing a Court of Appeal hearing yesterday.
Judges yesterday upheld the Competition Commission’s 2009 ruling that BAA exerted a dominant hold on airports in Scotland and south east England.
BAA, which also owns Heathrow, sold off Edinburgh Airport in April but has mounted several appeals against the order to dispose of Stansted.
“We will now consider its judgement carefully and we intend to submit an appeal to the Supreme Court,” the firm said in a statement.
Ryanair, however, welcomed the ruling, criticising BAA’s stance as “a blatant attempt to delay the sale”.
Legal experts were sceptical of BAA’s chances in further appeals.
“BAA has done well to hang on to Stansted for three years following the CC’s original decision. With the benefit of hindsight, it might conclude that it would have done better to sell the airport in 2009 than now, given the decline in the economic situation in that time,” said Rosemary Choueka, Lawrence Graham LLP’s head of EU, competition and regulation.