The three largest London airports are managed by one company. Depending on the particular squabble with the airport, there have been many calls for the breakup of what many see as a transportation monopoly. Now, a breakup may soon actually happen and a possible new bidder for one of the airports is raising some eyebrows.
It is not news that there are calls for a breakup of BAA, the managers and owners of London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. Those kinds of calls are old news with everyone from airlines wanting lower airport fees and passengers complaining about the new BA terminal claiming that their problems are caused by monopolistic tyranny.
The news that made it to European headlines is that something might actually happen in the not-too-distant future. It seems a ruling from the UK’s Competition Commission will recommend that one of BAA’s airport holdings be sold. The competition watchdog is due to announce the provisional findings of its inquiry in the next two weeks.
At the same time a new bidder for Stansted Airport burst onto the front pages of UK newspapers. Ryanair’s CEO O’Leary, claimed that the airline would be interested in buying the airport to be able to better manage their fees. O’Leary has been one of BAA staunchest foes over the past few years.
Of course few give creedance to O’Leary’s bid and fewer believe that even if the bidding were to open, O’Leary has a any chance of success. Some newspapers in Europe posit that the entire bid was an orchestrated media event. If so, O’Leary got results and even moved the British stock market.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
