Ryanair condemns Ferrovial/BAA Judiial Review
15-Sep-2011 Ryanair, the UK’s favourite airline, today (15 Sept 2011) condemned the Ferrovial/BAA airport monopoly for seeking another judicial review of the UK Competition Authority’s 2008 recommendation requiring it to sell off London Stansted Airport, as well as one of its Scottish airports.
This is yet another legal delay to the sale of Stansted, which has been repeatedly delayed by Ferrovial/BAA's legal manoeuvrings. While Ferrovial/BAA delays the sale of Stansted, the BAA has doubled its passenger charges, traffic has declined over 20%, but the BAA's costs have risen by over 30%, with the result that Stansted airlines and passengers are being massively overcharged by Ferrovial/BAA under the CAA's inadequate regulatory regime. This regulatory gaming will not stop until the Ferrovial/BAA monopoly is eventually forced to sell Stansted, to end this regulatory gaming and overcharging of Stansted's airlines and passengers.
Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said:
"Stansted airlines and passengers will continue to be overcharged for at least another 12 months by the Ferrovial/BAA monopoly, as they used this judicial review to delay the inevitable sale of Stansted. While this sale is delayed, Ferrovial/BAA continues to run rings around the CAA's regulatory regime which the UK Competition Commission described as "inadequate". The BAA have inflated the RAB (Regulated Asset Base) at Stansted by more than £200m, being the cost of the now abandoned second runway and Stansted's operating costs are inflated annually by more than £50m of unexplained and unjustified intra-group charges to fund Ferrovials acquisition of the BAA airport monopoly.
"If there was an effective regulatory regime in the UK, then Stansted's airport charges would not have doubled over the past five years, and Stansted's operating costs would have fallen in line with its traffic declines (as they have at other competitive airports). Sadly under the CAA's ineffective regulatory regime, Stansted's operating costs have risen by 30%, even as their traffic has declined by over 20%.
"Is it any wonder the easyJet recently transferred three Stansted based aircraft to Southend, solely to avoid Ferrovial/BAA's high charges at Stansted. An article in the London Times newspaper (20th July) described this Ferrovial/BAA monopoly well when it said:
"Yes, Stansted has suffered during the past four years, but any other company faced with a 27% drop in passenger numbers would respond by cutting its prices. BAA's response has been to more than double landing charges at Stansted."
Ryanair again calls on the UK Government to expedite the early sale of Stansted and one of the Ferrovial's Scottish airports so that competition can encourage lower charges and better user services, where the CAA's "inadequate" regulatory regime has clearly failed."