Glasgow could see both its airports up for sale after the owner of Prestwick, Infratil, signalled its wish to dispose of the airport because of declining passenger numbers.
The Competition Commission has ordered the UK’s leading airport operator BAA to sell either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport. The Commission told BAA last week to speed up the process of disposal in Scotland.
New Zealand-based Infratil owns Prestwick and Manston Airport in Kent and has seen passengers decline at both. Numbers flying to and from Prestwick fell 13.5% or by 228,000 passengers in the year to July, and Ryanair – the airport’s biggest scheduled carrier – has axed flights to Stansted, Girona and Salzburg from next month. Last winter, Ryanair cut nine routes.
Infratil chief executive Marko Bogoievski said: “Glasgow isn’t performing.” Speaking in Wellington, New Zealand, last week he said: “[Prestwick] is a difficult asset to see in the portfolio in the long term.”
BAA is to decide “shortly” whether to sell either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport before offloading Stansted. The Competition Commission has accepted a proposal from the airports operator to reverse the order of sales, which originally required BAA to sell Stansted first.
The company will press ahead with a judicial review relating to the competition watchdog’s decision in July requiring BAA to sell Stansted.
“BAA is legally entitled to challenge the commission’s July 2011 decision and believes it has strong grounds to succeed,” a statement from the Spanish-owned airports firm said. “BAA will shortly say which of Edinburgh or Glasgow airports it will sell and then commence preparation for sale of that airport.”
Chief executive Colin Matthews said: “BAA has already sold Gatwick and will now sell either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport. “Both Edinburgh and Glasgow are great airports with great futures and we will be sorry to see one of them leave BAA.
“We will continue with our judicial review proceedings against the Competition Commission’s decision requiring BAA to sell Stansted. We believe the South East airports market has changed and BAA has changed since the Competition Commission’s 2009 decision. It is also clearer now than it has ever been that Heathrow and Stansted serve different markets.”
The sale of Edinburgh or Glasgow would leave BAA with five airports – Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, and one of either Edinburgh or Glasgow.