Airport company cites "apparent bias"
BAA is to appeal against the decision by the UK watchdog, the Competition Commission (CC) that it must sell three of its airports.
The airport company, a subsidiary of Spanish conglomerate Ferrovial, said the CC report was affected by "apparent bias."
BAA said: "This is because of links between a member of the Competition Commission panel and an organisation interested in acquiring the airports that BAA is required to sell."
This is understood to refer to a member of the CC who was also connected to one of the groups bidding for Gatwick Airport.
The BAA said it was also appealing on the grounds that the CC "failed to take into account the adverse financial impact of introducing competition, in particular by requiring BAA to sell three airports within two years in the current financial and economic circumstances."
Its decision was criticised by the Stansted Airline Consultative Committee (ACC) which described it as a "futile and baseless appeal" that is "bad for the economy and bad for passengers."
BAA's appeal will be heard before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Full details of the appeal will be published in the next few days.
The CC's report, published in March, ordered BAA to sell three of its seven airports: Gatwick, Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh.
This would leave it with Heathrow, Southampton, Aberdeen and one of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The CC also ruled that the sale of the three must be completed in two years with Gatwick going first, followed by Stansted and the one of the Scottish duo.
BAA began the process to sell Gatwick last September and already has a shortlist of bidders.
In the CC report, its chairman Christopher Clarke said there was "a complete lack of competition" between the airports in south east England and between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
David O'Brien, ACC's chairman, said: "BAA and Ferrovial know very well that this appeal has no chance of success: even their former patron, the ineffectual CAA regulator, has done a u-turn and now criticises their treatment of airlines and passengers alike.
"The sole purpose of this appeal is to delay the break up of their monopoly until they get a better price.
"In the meantime, however, BAA plans to continue to abuse passengers in exactly the same way which caused the OFT and the Competition Commission to intervene."
www.competition-commission.org.uk www.baa.com