Non-Subscriber Extract
Competition Commission reveals issues under investigation in BAA inquiry
10 August 2007
Commission will consider how common ownership could affect BAA's incentives to invest in and develop its airports and to operate them
The Competition Commission has published an issues statement as part of its inquiry into BAA's presence in the UK airport sector.
The statement identified the issues under investigation but the commission stressed that it has not reached any firm conclusions.
Christopher Clarke, inquiry chairman and deputy chairman of the Competition Commission, said his team has collected "extensive evidence from a wide range of parties".
He added: "We are looking at how common ownership could affect BAA's incentives both to invest in and develop its airports and to operate them. We are particularly assessing how the quantity, specification, quality, location and timeliness of capital expenditure, ranging from capacity to security, might be affected by common ownership. Similarly, in terms of operations, we are examining how it might affect incentives to improve operating efficiencies as well as levels of service, including recently, and most notably, security."
In response to the statement, BAA Chief Executive Officer Stephen Nelson said that the operator remains confident that BAA will be shown to be acting in the interest of passengers.
"BAA accepts that the experience of too many passengers using London airports is unsatisfactory," he added. "But the problems of congestion and delay that affect passengers have their roots in lack of terminal and runway capacity, not the ownership structure of BAA."