BA may take legal action on Stansted expansion

British Airways today said it would not rule out taking legal action if the British government announced plans to expand Stansted Airport rather than Heathrow.

British Transport Secretary Alistair Darling is expected to publish a White Paper next month outlining where up to three new runways could be built to relieve congestion at existing facilities.

The options under consideration include building a third runway at Heathrow, a second one at Gatwick or up to three more at Stansted, with Stansted thought to be the most likely choice.

But BA said today if the British government did announce that the new runway would be built at Stansted it would look at all its options to try to get it to change its mind.

It added that while it was not currently threatening legal action, it would also not rule it out.

The group is worried that paying for expansion at Stansted would require cross-subsidy from Heathrow through increased charges.

A spokesman said: “Legal action would be a last resort but at this stage nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out.”

Meanwhile BA is tomorrow expected to announce a massive drop in pre-tax profits for the three months to the end of September, traditionally its strongest period of the year.

The group, which has already borne the brunt of the Iraq war and the SARS crisis, is expected to say profits during the quarter were hit by higher fuel costs and backdated pay for support staff.

Earlier this month BA said passenger numbers had remained stable during October, although revenue increased slightly, rising by 3.9%.