Flybe says BAA should sell Southampton Airport - Southampton Airport News

Airport news for Southampton on 18/12/2008.

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Flybe has expressed its dismay that the Commission has not already insisted that the sale of Southampton be part of the break up of BAA’s stranglehold on UK airports.

Mike Rutter, the chief commercial officer at Flybe, said: “The Competition Commission have got it wrong on Southampton Airport. Despite detailed evidence provided to them by Flybe, they have ignored the obvious fact that BAA have for years given Southampton a poor deal in comparison to their other airports in the South East.”

Rutter urged the Commission to rethink the recommendations: “We are calling on the CC to revisit their findings, to actually undertake the research that they themselves admit is missing from their analysis and come back with a different answer in February when they publish their final report.”

According to Flybe, BAA will continue to focus on Heathrow, and ensure that pricing at Southampton keeps it from being competitive with Heathrow “to the clear detriment of Southampton travelers.”

It carrier added that it had presented evidence to the watchdog demonstrating that BAA consistently under-invested in Southampton, while over-pricing airport fees.

Rutter did comment, however, that Flybe welcomed the recommended sale of Edinburgh Airport, and urged BAA to begin the process quickly.

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