Threat of legal bid over forced Gatwick sale

BAA is threatening to launch a legal challenge to the forced sale of Gatwick airport.

It has accused the Competition Commission of making "substantive errors" in recommending the break-up of its business.

The company, Britain's biggest airport owner which also controls Heathrow and Stansted, tore into a recent commission report that said it should sell two of its London assets and one in Scotland.

In a 74-page response BAA said the commission had misunderstood its business.

BAA told the regulator: "If these flaws are not addressed BAA will consider the possibility of an appeal to the competition appeals tribunal."

BAA, owned by Spanish construction giant Ferrovial, decided to get rid of Gatwick rather than Stansted because it is applying for a second runway at the Essex airport and feared a sale would jeopardise the process.

Gatwick, the world's busiest single runway airport, has an agreement with West Sussex County Council not to build a second runway before 2019.

It is valued at £1.7 billion by air industry regulator the Civil Aviation Authority and is set to make a profit of £184 million this year.

Estimates of its worth in the open market have ranged from less than £2 billion to more than £3 billion. The Competition Commission declined to comment.