BAA is to sell Edinburgh airport after the Competition Commission (CC) earlier this year ruled that it must sell one of its two largest Scottish airports, either Glasgow or Edinburgh.
BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said Edinburgh airport will be put on the market in the New Year, with the hope it will be sold by summer 2012.
“Edinburgh is a great airport with a great team and a great future, and we will be very sorry to see it leave BAA,” he said. Making the decision of which airport to sell was “difficult”, said Matthews.
“Passenger numbers at Edinburgh have grown by more than 6 per cent over the past year and in an uncertain market we expect it to be an attractive asset to prospective buyers.”
BAA has vigorously opposed the decision to force a sale of two of its airports – in July, Matthews described it as “unreasonably draconian”. Despite losing Edinburgh, Matthews said BAA will “remain committed to Scotland”, where it owns Aberdeen airport as well.
He said Glasgow airport in particular has “great opportunities for future growth and development”.
BAA continues to try and stop the forced sale of Stansted, having launched a judicial review in September.