Gatwick airport sale deal unveiled

UK airports operator BAA today unveiled a deal to sell Gatwick to the owner of London City Airport for just over £1.5bn (€1.65bn).

The agreement with US-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) comes a year after BAA’s Spanish owner Ferrovial put Gatwick up for sale, amid competition concerns about the operator’s market dominance.

BAA is currently involved in an appeal against a ruling by the Competition Commission that it should sell three of its airports – Gatwick and Stansted and one of either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

It said today that proceeds will be used to repay part of its debt pile, which stood at £9.6bn (€10.5bn) at the end of June.