Zitat

The UK's second-largest airport, Gatwick, has been put up for sale by its owner BAA.

The move comes four weeks after the Competition Commission said BAA may have to sell three of its UK airports because of market dominance concerns.
Several firms are said to be interested in buying Gatwick, which has been valued at £1.8bn by regulators.
Potential bidders include Australian company Macquarie, Germany's Fraport, and the owners of Manchester airport.
Virgin Atlantic said it would also be interested in bidding as part of a consortium.
"We are delighted that BAA has ended the uncertainty over Gatwick's future," said Steve Ridgway, Virgin Atlantic chief executive.
"Virgin Atlantic would relish the opportunity to bid for Gatwick as part of a consortium and inject our customer service expertise into any future running of the airport."
However there were misgivings at the Unite trade union, whose national officer, Steve Turner, said: "It simply beggars belief that a 'For Sale' sign can be hung across the country's second largest airport.
"Gatwick is a core component of the national infrastructure and an essential part of the UK's aviation sector, yet it is to be flogged off with little care for the wider social impact."
Sale process begins
Last month, the Competition Commission said in an interim ruling that BAA may have to sell three of its seven UK airports.
Although the commission does not release its full report until next year, it added that BAA may need to sell two of its three airports in the South East - Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted
BAA, which is owned by Ferrovial of Spain, ruled out selling Heathrow, which leaves Gatwick and Stansted.
The company also operates airports at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland, and Southampton in southern England.
In a statement, BAA said it had decided to begin the process of selling Gatwick "immediately".
The Civil Aviation Authority has just increased the amount Gatwick - where 35 million passengers passed through in 2007 - can charge in landing fees.
But it is operating on one runway and approaching full capacity.
"Gatwick has long been an important and valuable part of BAA and the decision to sell was not taken lightly," said BAA chief executive Colin Matthews.
"We believe that the airport's customers, staff and business will benefit from the earliest possible resolution of current uncertainty.
"When the Competition Commission published its provisional findings, we said that we would be realistic in our response, though we disagree with the commission's report and the analysis on which it is founded."

Mr Matthews told the BBC that the market would set the price that the airport would realise.
He also told the BBC that selling the airport was "the right thing for BAA, for Gatwick, to do".
Following BAA's announcement, the Competition Commission issued a statement saying that it had provisionally found competition problems at each of BAA's seven UK airports, with adverse consequences for passengers and airlines.
"As a result we are now consulting on the appropriate remedies set out in our remedies notice," it said.
"If these are implemented as proposed, we will require BAA to sell two of its three London airports, and also either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport."

The commission said its investigation was continuing and its final report would be published in early 2009 - focussing on both the competition issues and the appropriate remedies.
"We will, of course, take account of any action by BAA in the meantime which may impact the competition problems we have provisionally identified," it added.
Meanwhile the Conservative party said it welcomed the BAA decision to sell Gatwick.
Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers said: “For over a year, we've been calling for BAA's monopolistic grip on airports around London to be broken up so we welcome steps to sell Gatwick.
"We will continue to keep the pressure on BAA to ensure it dramatically improves the quality of service it gives customers which may mean Stansted should be sold as well.”
Budget airline Easyjet said Gatwick was a "local monopoly" and called on any reform of airport regulation to "put the needs of customers first".
And sector rival Ryanair said: "This morning's announcement... is just the latest attempt by the BAA monopoly to get itself off the hook of the Competition Commission's recommendations."
AIRLINES AT GATWICK
Aer Lingus
Monarch
Thomas Cook
First Choice
Thomson
Sterling
Easyjet
SAS
Delta Airlines
FlyBe
US Airways
BA
Ryanair
Virgin Atlantic
TAP
Continental Airlines

Zitat

London-Gatwick steht zum Verkauf
Die Wahl ist gefallen: Der britische Flughafenbetreiber muss aus kartellrechtlichen Gründen Flughäfen veräußern. BAA hat sich gegen den Flughafen Gatwick im Süden von London entschieden. Die Interessenten drängeln sich, darunter zwei aus Deutschland.
Die Suche nach einem neuen Besitzer für Großbritanniens zweitgrößten Flughafen werde umgehend gestartet, teilte der Flughafenbetreiber BAA am Mittwoch mit. Analysten schätzen den Verkaufswert auf umgerechnet 2,5 Mrd. Euro. Im vergangenen Jahr verzeichnete London-Gatwick 35 Millionen Passagiere.
Der Verkauf war von der britischen Wettbewerbsbehörde angestoßen worden: Sie war der Ansicht, auf den BAA-Flughäfen werde auf Anliegen von Passagieren zögerlich reagiert. Auch gebe es nicht genug Initiativen zum Ausbau der Kapazitäten. Die Londoner Flughäfen - vor allem Heathrow - stehen immer wieder wegen ihres schlechten Service und der langen Warteschlangen in der Kritik.
Die Ferrovial-Tochter BAA betreibt in Großbritannien sieben Flughäfen - Heathrow, Stansted und Gatwick in London sowie Southampton und die schottischen Flughäfen in Edinburgh, Glasgow und Aberdeen. Der Wettbewerbsbehörde zufolge soll die BAA drei der sieben Airports verkaufen, darunter zwei der drei Londoner Flughäfen sowie Edinburgh oder Glasgow.
BAA klammert sich an seine restlichen sechs Airports
Bislang will das Unternehmen aber weder von Heathrow noch von Stansted abrücken - an letzterem ist auch Ryanair interessiert. Ein Eigentümerwechsel würde die Expansionspläne des Flughafens für den Bau einer zweiten Start- und Landebahn gefährden, sagte BAA-Chef Colin Matthews. Außer Gatwick wolle sich BAA von keinem weiteren Flughafen trennen. Die endgültige Entscheidung der Wettbewerbshüter wird für Anfang 2009 erwartet.

Der Flughafenbetreiber Fraport und der größte deutsche Baukonzern Hochtief bekräftigten ihr grundsätzliches Interesse an Gatwick. "Wir prüfen ein Engagement und schauen uns die Bedingungen an, zu denen Gatwick zum Verkauf gestellt wird", sagte eine Sprecherin. Auch Fraport könnte sich ein Engagement in Gatwick vorstellen: "Wir sind unverändert interessiert unter dem Vorbehalt, dass wir erst die Konditionen prüfen", sagte ein Sprecher.

Virgin Atlantic will innerhalb eines Konsortiums ebenfalls mitbieten. Mögliche Bieter sind auch die Manchester Airports Group, Changi Airports International aus Singapur, die australische Bank Macquarie und das Konsortium Global Infrastructure Partners, Eigentümer des London City Airport.