Business leaders have said services at Edinburgh Airport should be maintained regardless of who owns it, in the wake of operator BAA being told to sell two airports.
BAA, which runs six UK airports, will have to sell Stansted followed by either Edinburgh or Glasgow, the Competition Commission (CC) said, although the company immediately responded by saying that it was considering pursuing a judicial review.
The ownership saga began in March 2009 when the CC said BAA must sell Gatwick since disposed of as well as Stansted and either Edinburgh or Glasgow.
Despite a series of legal challenges by BAA, the CC said it believed the sale of the airports was fully justified and added passengers and airlines will benefit from greater competition with the airports under separate ownership.
Alan Russell, chief executive of Fife Chamber of Commerce, told The Courier the CC’s priority should be to ensure all of Scotland’s airports continue to benefit from investment.
“Fife chamber has always maintained that Edinburgh and Glasgow airports serve different markets and therefore we support the stance taken by BAA,” he said. “If they are forced to sell one of Scotland’s airports then we would hope they continued to operate Edinburgh as they have served us well there for many years.”
Dunfermline MSP Bill Walker said services must be maintained at Edinburgh. The SNP MSP told The Courier, “Edinburgh airport is good for the local economy and good for us in Fife who use it. It has good business connections and holiday destinations.”
He continued, “While I am not particularly anxious about any change, it has to be something to protect the interests of its users. We need to make sure the benefits we have from Edinburgh airport are secure, whoever ends up owning it.
“As long as the services, facilities and route stay the same or get better, I would be happy.”
The CC said Stansted should be sold first as it served the larger number of passengers and there would be a small overlap between the Stansted sale and that of one of the Scottish airports.
However, Spanish-owned BAA argues that a change in policy at Westminster that has ruled out new runways in south-east England and the sale of Gatwick have significantly changed the airport market.
It added that the airports in question face increased competition from non-BAA airports particularly those in Europe for the business of low-cost carriers.
BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said, “The CC has not recognised that the world and BAA have changed. This decision would damage our company, which is investing strongly in UK jobs and growth.”
Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Alan Mitchell, said the sale of either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport could lead to more competition on routes and fares, which would benefit business travellers in Tayside and across Scotland.
However, he said it is impossible at this stage to predict the effect of the sell-off, as it will depend on decisions made by the new owner.
“The change of ownership of Glasgow or Edinburgh airport should not have an impact on business travellers in Dundee and Angus, but it would obviously depend on who the new operator was and their approach to services, and it is impossible at the moment to say how that could pan out,” he continued.
“Here in Dundee we already have an airport, and it shouldn’t be overly affected because it offers services to key markets in London and Birmingham.”
Vicki Unite, chief executive of Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, said, “Our view and that shared across Scottish chambers of commerce on this Competition Commission investigation has consistently been that we do not believe that the break-up in ownership of the Scottish airports will in itself increase competition and thereby a better service for Scottish airport customers.
“We believe that the three Scottish airports serve three different markets (the north-east, the west and the east), and any overlap of customers can be accounted for by the niche services offered by the central belt airports (Glasgow has more tourist and charter flights, Edinburgh more business services).
“Of particular interest is that fact that a number of destinations are served from each of the two central belt airports, thus underlining the regional nature of demand. The issue of who owns Glasgow and Edinburgh is less important than that they provide a high-quality service to Scottish travellers and that they assist in growing our economy.
“BAA have a strong track record of investment in Glasgow and Edinburgh airports in particular, and are currently extending the runway at Aberdeen. Any new owner must match or better BAA’s investment plans and must be firmly linked in to regional and national economic development plans.”