Peel Group confirms currently in talks with investors for its Peel Airports division

UK's Peel Group confirmed it is currently in "ongoing" talks with investors for its Peel Airports division, and it has not ruled out the possibility of an investor taking a majority stake (Evening Gazette, 29-Jan-2010). The talks are the result of falling revenues at its airports, which it has attributed to the decline or loss of services from Flyglobespan, Ryanair and Wizz. The group also criticised the UK Government for failing to develop a competitive climate for regional airlines.

Peel Group: "We feel that our airports, like most regional airports, are becoming less competitive in comparison to our competitor airports in Europe due to unfair Air Passenger Duty applied on every departing passenger originating from the UK whilst across (the) European Continental market similar taxation is absent or is being scrapped," Spokesperson. Source: Evening Gazette, 29-Jan-2010.