Competition Commission to continue fight over BAA sale
THE Competition Commission (CC) is continuing its fight to force BAA to sell some of its airports, challenging a tribunal judgement giving BAA the right to appeal.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) last year ruled that the CC’s decision that Ferrovial-owned BAA should dispose of London Stansted and Scotland’s Edinburgh or Glasgow airports within two years had been influenced by bias.
BAA argued that Peter Moizer should not have been on the CCs airport panel as he was an adviser to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, linked to the Manchester Airport Group, which was a potential bidder for BAA’s Gatwick airport.
“We have decided to appeal against the CAT’s judgement on the grounds that the CAT was wrong to conclude that there was a connection between Peter Moizer and Manchester Airports Group giving rise to apparent bias,” the CC said. “We will seek to have any appeal heard as soon as possible in view of the importance of this case.”
The CAT’s December judgement opened the door for fresh talks on a ruling that BAA’s control of the country’s airports should be broken up within two years. BAA sold Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners for a smaller than expected £1.5bn in October.