The “fightback” on behalf of passengers has begun, said Angela Jameson on www.timesonline.co.uk. The Competition Commission has recommended that airport operator BAA, owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, should sell three of its seven UK airports, including two in London (BAA has already said it will hang on to Heathrow). BAA has neglected customers and shown a “lack of initiative in planning capacity”, said the Commission. It’s about time BAA was broken up, as Jeff Randall said in The Daily Telegraph. Thanks to its “immunity from competition” – it handles 90% of airport traffic in the South-East – it treats both airlines and passengers as “a nuisance”.
Still, boosting competition by breaking up BAA may not improve matters all that much, as the FT pointed out. Plenty of passengers have a choice between the London airports, so there should be some improvement in passenger services, but then Gatwick and Stansted can’t compete with Heathrow’s status as an international hub, and with London’s airports all full there is scant scope for drawing business away from Heathrow.
Meanwhile, even if landing fees come down, debt-ridden airlines “are not going to rush to cut fares”, said David Millward on www.telegraph.co.uk. Longer-term, a regulatory overhaul to boost incentives for investment is the way forward, said the FT. A BAA break-up will be “a palliative”, not a cure-all.
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