Report: BAA to sell two British airports

LONDON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The chairman of BAA Ltd., owner of Britain's Heathrow Airport, says it's likely the company will be forced by the government to sell two airports.

BAA owns a total of seven British airports, including two others in London, Gatwick and Stansted. BAA Chairman Sir Nigel Rudd told The Daily Telegraph Saturday that the government's Competition Commission is likely to demand the company sell off two airports -- either Gatwick or Stansted in London and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports in Scotland.

"(From) all the things that I'm hearing, it looks like they will announce that," Rudd told the newspaper, adding that BAA has already fielded "huge expressions of interest" from parties interested in buying Gatwick and Stansted, even though neither are currently for sale.

The results of the Competition Commission's investigation of poor service by BAA and its dominance of Britain's airport industry are set to be published at the end of next week, the newspaper said, with increasing speculation it will say BAA's continued ownership of the seven airports is not in the public's best interests.