Competition probe into BAA will take a year

The Competition Commission does not expect to complete an investigation into airports operator BAA until this time next year.

The owner of seven UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted was referred to the commission by the Office of Fair Trading in March against a background of calls for BAA to be broken up.

BAA has faced an increasing wave of criticism over its London airports this summer.

Competition Commission deputy chairman and inquiry group chairman Christopher Clarke said: “We are well aware of the concerns expressed in the media and elsewhere over the operations of BAA’s airports, especially Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

“These include delays experinces by passengers going through security or immigration, as well as the availability of facilities such as lifts, escalators and travelators, and other aspects which may affect passengers’ experience passing through airports, such as overcrowding, signage and cleanliness.”

But he added that the commission had “no preconceived ideas of what our conclusions might be; and if we were to identify competition problems, what the appropriate remedies might be. It is much too early for that.”

A document setting out ’emerging thinking’ on all the key issues is to be published for consultation in the early part of 2008.

“We currently aim to reach our provisional findings around this time next year,” said Clarke.

The commission has so far collected “extensive evidence” from BAA, the Civil Aviation Authority, OFT, airlines, industry bodies, other providers of services to the airports, consumer and business groups as well as the government in both England and Scotland.

“Our task is to seek and assess the evidence on all aspects of the seven airports relevant to a competition inquiry,” said Clarke. “We are therefore looking at a wide range of issues, many of whcih are complex and interrelated. Some may be short-term but given the nature of airports, others involve much longer timescales stretching over the next 10 or 15 years.

“We are looking at how common ownership could affect BAA’s incentives both to invest and develop its airports, and 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.”

by Phil Davies