Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary says a break-up of airport operator BAA could trigger an explosion in air travel from London and see three new runways built by 2012.
O’Leary called for BAA to be divested of Gatwick and Stansted and left solely in charge of Heathrow, and suggested BAA-owner Ferrovial should sell its other airports now rather than wait for the result of the current Competition Commission inquiry.
“Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick could all add runways by 2012. You would have overcapacity, prices would come down and more people would fly,” said the Ryanair boss.
He dismissed Government plans to impose a green tax on aircraft from 2009 in place of Air Passenger Duty as “useless” and concern about climate change as “idle nonsense”.
O’Leary made the comments as Ryanair launched its biggest-ever summer schedule for 2008, with 40 million seats available and 150 more routes than a year ago. The carrier will offer 113 routes from London alone.