Gatwick bidders may include Virgin
September 3rd 2008
Gatwick airport is attracting a number of interested buyers, including Virgin Atlantic and other airlines, now that the Competition Commission has recommended BAA’s airports monopoly is broken up.
Virgin Atlantic has confirmed its interest in Gatwick. “If the Competition Commission recommends the sale of Gatwick airport, then Virgin Atlantic would be interested in possibly bidding to run it, as part of a consortium,” the airline said in a statement.
Virgin has indicated it would like to join a consortium with other airlines to bid for Gatwick. There is speculation about who these other airlines may be, but the low cost airlines easyJet, Ryananair and Monarch are all thought to be in the frame.
In its statement Virgin added: “We would be able to bring our expertise in customer service into any ownership group. We are a shareholder in the air traffic control company NATS, which we part own with other airlines, and could imagine a similar scenario in terms of Gatwick's ownership”.
Virgin is being naturally cagey about its plans but it is reported to have already held talks with financial partners. “It is very early days in terms of Gatwick's future ownership and so we cannot comment on parties we may have held talks with but we are watching developments closely,” the airline’s statement continued.
Last month the Competition Commission published its initial report into its investigation of BAA’s airports monopoly. In the report it found “significant competition problems” because of BAA’s ownership of seven UK airports, including Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted in the London area.
The Competition Commission has now published a further consultation document asking for views on which two of BAA’s three London airports should be sold. It is very unlikely that BAA will want to give up Heathrow, so Gatwick and Stansted are the realistic candidates for sale.
Manchester Airports Group has expressed its interest in buying Gatwick, and already owns three other UK airports – East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside. Other parties interested in Gatwick are believed to include Australian airport operator Macquarie, GE-Credit Suisse Investment fund and German investment company Hochtief.
Written by: Nick Purdom
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