BAA accused of acting against public interestThe Competition Commission has again accused BAA Baa See BBB. of acting against the public interest, this time involving misdemeanours at Stansted airport, including the mismanagement mis·man·age tr.v. mis·man·aged, mis·man·ag·ing, mis·man·ag·es To manage badly or carelessly. mis·man  age·ment n. of security queues.
In a recommendation that indicates the watchdog is still in favour of breaking up the UK's largest airport owner, the commission said BAA had breached competition law on three fronts. It said security queues were managed inadequately, that it had not consulted airlines properly over expansion plans and had overcharged cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft is an airplane designed and used for the carriage of goods, rather than passengers. This role demands a number of features that makes a cargo aircraft instantly identifiable; a "fat" looking fuselage, a high-wing to allow the cargo area to sit near the ground, a . The commission rejected BAA's request for a substantial increase in landing charges, instead setting a price cap below BAA's expectations. "We believe our recommendations will provide the necessary incentives for BAA to meet existing and future customers' needs by operating efficiently and by continuing to develop the airport," said Christopher Clarke, deputy chairman of the commission. The watchdog said landing fees could rise from £6.34 per passenger to £7.05 over the next five years. Ryanair and easyJet have fought a running battle with BAA and the Civil Aviation Authority Civil Aviation Authority civil (Brit) n → Behörde f für Zivilluftfahrt , which ultimately sets the charges, over the cost of using the UK's largest airports. Stansted has been the main battleground, with Ryanair withdrawing at least 12 planes from the Essex airport Essex Airport, (TC LID: CNE9), is located 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) southwest of Essex, Ontario, Canada. References
EasyJet, Stansted's second-largest customer, said the commission was "yet again" doing a better job than the CAA Caa See CCC. , which proposed scrapping price caps at Stansted last year but was overruled by the then transport secretary, Ruth Kelly. "The commission has come out and said exactly the right sort of things — Stansted does need to be regulated," said Toby Nicol, director of communications Director of Communications is a position in the private and public sectors. The Director of Communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. at easyJet. Ryanair, which has called repeatedly for the break-up of BAA, said the commission's recommendations reinforced the watchdog's recent statement that two airports from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted should be sold off. "It is now clear that BAA needs to be forced to immediately sell off Stansted airport in order to allow the market to introduce lower prices and better services for consumers," said Jim Callaghan, head of regulatory affairs Regulatory Affairs (RA), also called Government Affairs, is a profession within regulated industries, such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, energy, and banking. Regulatory Affairs professionals usually have responsibility for the following general areas: BAA criticised the commission for recommending that the airport group should be allowed to invest only a small amount of money in expanding Stansted. The commission said BAA, which is seeking planning permission planning permission Noun formal permission granted by a local authority for the construction, alteration, or change of use of a building planning permission n → licencia de obras for a second runway at Stansted, should be allocated £40m to invest in the proposal, pending planning approval. BAA had requested spending £1.1bn on the runway over the five-year period, just under half the total cost. BAA said the commission had not acknowledged the full cost of building a second runway at Stansted, an expansion that the watchdog backs, added BAA. "We are disappointed that the Competition Commission has failed to reflect large elements of the costs involved in operating Stansted airport over the next five years and beyond," said a BAA spokesman. 
|
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion