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'BAA Limited' is the owner and operator of seven British airports and operator of several airports worldwide, making the company one of the largest transport companies in the world. It is owned by a consortium led by Grupo Ferrovial, a Spanish firm that specializes in infrastructure.
BAA makes its money from charging landing fees to airlines and also increasingly from the wide range of shops in airport terminals. BAA does not operate all UK airports; many are in the ownership of local authorities or other corporations.

Contents

History

Name

Controversies

Heathrow management

Competition

Heathrow Protest Injunction

BAA Interests

Owned and operated by BAA

Operated by BAA

Retail management

References

External link

History

The 'British Airports Authority' was established by the passing of the Airport Authority Act 1966, to take responsibility for four state-owned airports - London Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport and Prestwick International Airport. In the next few years, the authority acquired responsibility for Glasgow International Airport, Edinburgh Airport and Aberdeen Airport.
As part of Margaret Thatcher's moves to privatise government owned assets, the Airports Act (1986) was passed which mandated the creation of 'BAA plc' as a vehicle by which stock market funds could be raised; the initial capitalisation of BAA plc was £1,225 million. In the early 1990s, the company sold off Prestwick. More recently it has expanded into international operations, including retail contracts at Boston Logan International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (through subsidiary BAA USA, Inc.), and a total management contract with the City of Indianapolis to run entirely the Indianapolis International Airport (as BAA Indianapolis, Inc.).
In December 2005, BAA made a winning bid of £1.2 billion for a 75% stake in Budapest Ferihegy, the largest airport in Hungary, which was being privatised by the Hungarian government, although following the take-over of BAA by Grupo Ferrovial in 2006, the decision was made to sell the stake in Ferihegy and this was done in June 2007, when a consortium led by HOCHTIEF AirPort of Germany purchased the stake.^[1]
In July 2006, BAA was taken over by a consortium led by Grupo Ferrovial, following a bid which valued the company at £10.1 billion ($20 billion).^[2] As a result, the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange (where it had previously been part of the FTSE100 index) on 15 August 2006, and the company name was subsequently changed from BAA plc to BAA Limited.

Name

Although the company is adamant that its name is strictly "BAA Limited" and that the letters do not officially stand for anything, it is still widely (albeit erroneously) referred to as the "British Airports Authority" by both the media and the public - even though the Authority officially ceased to exist following the 1986 privatisation.

Controversies

Heathrow management

BAA has garnered criticism for its handling of Heathrow, namely its predominant placement of shops rather than extra security aisles. After much criticism for this, BAA has now removed some shops to provide extra security lanes. ''The Economist'' writes that retail is important for BAA at Heathrow because by law, landing charges are much less than those of similar-scope airports and retail shops help make up the difference..

Competition

The British government has looked into a possible monopoly BAA holds over London's three main airports.

Heathrow Protest Injunction

In July 2007 BAA sought an injunction preventing potential protesters involved in the Camp for Climate Action from approaching its London Heathrow Airport.
The Camp for Climate action comprises a number of organizations who oppose the building of a third runway at London Heathrow because of concerns about the environmental and social impacts. The injunction specifically targeted anyone belonging to, or protesting in the name of "AirportWatch", "The No Third Runway Action Group" and "Plane Stupid".

BAA Interests

Owned and operated by BAA

★ Aberdeen Airport

★ Edinburgh Airport

★ Glasgow International Airport

★ London Gatwick Airport

★ London Heathrow Airport

★ London Stansted Airport

★ Southampton Airport

Operated by BAA

★ Australia

★
★ Alice Springs Airport

★
★ Darwin International Airport

★
★ Launceston Airport

★
★ Melbourne Airport

★
★ Perth Airport

★
★ Tennant Creek Airport

★ Indianapolis International Airport

★ Naples International Airport

Retail management

★ Baltimore-Washington International Airport

★ Boston Logan International Airport

★ Pittsburgh International Airport

References

1. [1]
2. ''The Economist'', ''The man who bought trouble''. Consulted on July 18, 2007.

External link

★ Official site