BAA sale order expected to be confirmed

The ruling by the Competition Commission will end two years of hiatus since an original decision in 2009.

At that time the commission ruled that BAA would have to sell Gatwick and Stansted airports as well as either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport.

But there were then a series of legal challenges by BAA to the ruling, which ended with the commission findings being upheld.

The commission then considered whether there had been material changes in circumstances since the 2009 ruling.

In a provisional ruling in March this year, it said the sale of the airports was still fully justified and passengers and airlines would still benefit from greater competition with the airports under separate ownership. BAA has already sold Gatwick in West Sussex.