BAA may be ordered to sell off some airports: chairman

LONDON: The chairman of BAA said he expected Britain's biggest airport operator to be ordered to break up the company, in an interview Saturday, which would mean selling off some of its key airports.

Sir Nigel Rudd acknowledged that Britain's Competition Commission regulator could force the move when it announces next week the provisional findings of an inquiry into BAA, which is owned by Ferrovial of Spain.

One proposal to be put forward by the commission will be stripping BAA of two of the three London airports it operates -- Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted -- a daily newspaper reported.

Asked about reports that the commission will conclude that BAA's ownership of seven British airports is not in the public interest, Rudd told the BBC: "(From) all the things that I'm hearing, it looks like they will announce that."

But he insisted the break-up of BAA would not be a "disaster" and said BAA's owners had already received "huge expressions of interest" from potential buyers for Gatwick and Stansted, although neither is for sale at the moment.

BAA holds a 60 per cent market share of all passengers passing through British airports, a figure which rises to 90 percent around London, according to Competition Commission data quoted by the newspaper.