A Competition Commission report released yesterday said the Spanish-owned airports operator should sell two of Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow.

BAA has said that it will never sell its flagship Heathrow.
Mr Yeo said: "I greatly welcome Provisional Findings from the Competition Commission which conclude that BAA should sell two of its three London airports.

"I have argued for the break-up of BAA since I was Shadow Transport Minister four years ago, so I am delighted that the Competition Commission has now confirmed my view.

"This almost certainly means that BAA will have to sell Stansted and will no longer be able to use its revenue from Heathrow to subsidise uneconomic expansion of Stansted.

"I very much hope that the future owners of Stansted will recognise the airport has already reached its maximum sustainable capacity and will immediately shelve BAA's plans for either a second runway or increased passenger numbers."

The report says many of the problems met by passengers and airlines in recent years were due to the "common ownership" of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, which account for nearly 90% of departures and arrivals into London.

This story was broken first at www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk