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UK Breaks Up London Airport Monopoly

Gov't watchdog forces Heathrow owner to sell 2 other facilities

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 19, 2009 6:32 AM CDT

(Newser) – Britain's competition authority has ordered the country's largest airport operator to sell two London airports, reports the Guardian, in the biggest shakeup of air travel in decades. BAA will retain Heathrow but must sell Gatwick and Stansted airports, along with a Scottish facility. The watchdog said that only a radical breakup and the threat of competition among the airports could improve the notoriously unpleasant experience of flying into London.

Terminal 5 of London's Heathrow Airport. BAA will retain Heathrow but must sell Gatwick and Stansted, a watchdog group ruled today.
Terminal 5 of London's Heathrow Airport. BAA will retain Heathrow but must sell Gatwick and Stansted, a watchdog group ruled today.   (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
A car passes a BAA sign at an entrance to London's Heathrow Airport,  Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009. BAA has been ordered to sell Gatwick and Stansted airports in London.
A car passes a BAA sign at an entrance to London's Heathrow Airport, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009. BAA has been ordered to sell Gatwick and Stansted airports in London.   (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
An airplane prepares to takeoff from London's Gatwick airport, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008. BAA Ltd. will sell two airports serving London and one in Scotland, the government's anti-monopoly agency says.
An airplane prepares to takeoff from London's Gatwick airport, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008. BAA Ltd. will sell two airports serving London and one in Scotland, the government's anti-monopoly agency says.   (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
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