29th February 2012

BAA launches yet another appeal over Stansted

BAA has this afternoon [29 February 2012] announced that it has initiated appeal proceedings against the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s judgment of 1 February 2012, upholding the Competition Commission’s ruling that BAA must sell Stansted Airport.

This means that the uncertainty over the future ownership of Stansted Airport is set to continue for at least another six months. The legal battle has already lasted for three years and this was preceded by three years of investigation into BAA by the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission.

Once again, BAA has waited until the very last day before lodging its appeal – just a few hours before the deadline.

BAA’s last appeal was dismissed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal on all five grounds.

Stop Stansted Expansion’s Economics Adviser Brian Ross commented: “True to form, BAA has again waited until the final day before lodging this appeal, lending weight to the argument that it does not expect its legal challenge to succeed and is merely seeking to delay the conclusion of the legal proceedings for as long as possible.”

He concluded: “It’s clear that BAA wants to cling onto Stansted for as long as possible but with every day that passes Stansted is losing customers and jobs and for any future owner becoming a weaker competitor for BAA’s Heathrow Airport.”

Campaigning to ensure Stansted Airport's authorised operations stay below harmful limits