Ferrovial Group to sell Gatwick Airport

LONDON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Spain's Ferrovial Group announced Wednesday it would put London's Gatwick Airport up for sale to comply with an anti-competition ruling.

Britain's Competition Commission ruled the owners of Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports should sell two of the three major transportation hubs, the Times of London reported Wednesday.

Colin Matthews, chief executive officer of BAA, formerly the British Airports Authority, which runs the airports, said the company would appeal to keep the remaining two airports, the Times reported.

Selling Stansted would delay the planning process for a new runway, he said.

"When the Competition Commission published its provisional findings, we said that we would be realistic in our response, though we disagree with the Commission's report and the analysis on which it is founded," Collins said in a statement.

Gatwick, which includes two terminals, is the world's busiest single-runway airport and the second largest airport in Britain, handling 35 million passengers a year, the statement said.