Manchester Airport owner 'may bid for Gatwick'

Speculation is mounting that Gatwick Airport is to be sold off if the Competition Commission orders the break-up of its owners BAA this week.

The Commission will rule later this week over monopoly issues and is expected to state that the current BAA set up is not in the interests of consumers and airlines.

Further fuelling speculation over the future of Gatwick is the refusal of Manchester Airport Group (MAG) - the owners of Manchester Airport - to rule out a potential bid for Gatwick of BAA are forced to sell.

A spokeswoman for MAG told Forbes: "We don't really want to give a definite yes or no until we've seen the report."

An estimated 90 per cent of passengers in south-east England travel through BAA terminals, which include Gatwick, Heathrow Airport and Stansted Airport, whilst 80 per cent in Scotland use BAA airports at Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen.

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