CC approves Edinburgh Airport sale

The sale was announced earlier today. This approval follows an extensive process in which the CC has reviewed potential buyers to ensure that they meet its criteria on appropriate expertise, financial resources, independence from BAA and absence of further competition concerns.

GIP bought Gatwick Airport from BAA in December 2009, following the CC's report into BAA's ownership of seven UK airports, which required BAA to sell three airports (PDF, 56 Kb) . Following a number of legal challenges and a CC reassessment of the original decision, the CC brought forward in October 2011 (PDF, 39 Kb) the requirement for BAA to sell either Edinburgh or Glasgow Airport whilst BAA continued to challenge the sale of Stansted Airport. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) upheld the Stansted decision in February 2012 and BAA is now appealing to the Court of Appeal.

The CC will also now consult on draft undertakings provided by GIP, which prevent the change of ownership of Edinburgh Airport within five years unless the CC is satisfied that any new purchaser satisfies the CC's criteria.

Laura Carstensen, Chairman of the BAA Remedies Implementation Group and a member of the original Inquiry Group, said:

'We're pleased to approve the sale of Edinburgh Airport to GIP-and to enable the swift conclusion of this divestiture process. GIP's track record is very strong and we anticipate that customers at Edinburgh Airport will soon see the benefits of new management approaches-and that Scottish passengers and airlines more generally will also gain from the introduction of a more competitive environment.

'We hope to be in a position to proceed with the sale of Stansted before too long'.

The draft undertakings are available here.