Scotch broth: Investors positive about Edinburgh airport sale but what would they be taking on?

Under pressure from the UK's competition watchdog and still trying desperately to stave off the sale of London Stansted Airport, BAA has opted to sell off Scotland's Edinburgh Airport rather than nearby Glasgow, a move that was anticipated by some but queried by others. Less than a week after the announcement, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Manchester Airports Group (MAG), Fraport and Aeroports de Paris (AdP) have already put themselves in the frame. All of them need to read the small print.

Some observers have been quick to suggest Edinburgh was the "logical choice" for a sale of one of BAA's Scottish airport assets (Aberdeen, possibly the airport with the best prospects in the country, was never in the mix), and were supported by an announcement by BAA CEO Colin Matthews who stated BAA chose to sell Edinburgh rather than Glasgow Airport because it believes Edinburgh will attract more bidders and command a higher price. "I want to be clear that we would prefer to keep both airports, but given we had to sell one the decision was pretty straightforward," he said. Mr Matthews added Edinburgh should "generate a long line of bidders" as it had proved to be resilient during the economic downturn.