Airports & Routes Article Archive

In response to a ruling by the UK Competition Commission (CC), airport operator BAA has agreed to the sale of Edinburgh Airport (EDI) to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for £807.2 million ($1.3 billion). The sale is expected to close by the end of May.

GIP, an independent infrastructure fund manager, already owns a 75% interest in London City Airport (LCY) and a 42% controlling stake in London Gatwick Airport (LGW).

A survey of more than 80 airlines in the UK shows that more than half plan to base services in other European countries because of congestion at London Heathrow (LHR), according to the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK). Also, 86% of the carriers surveyed said they would add more flights at LHR if more slots were available at the hub.

BAR UK represents 84 scheduled domestic and international carriers operating into the UK. The survey results were announced by Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA, which operates six UK airports including LHR.

Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) moved 4.28 million passengers in March, setting a passenger record for the third month of the year, SIN said in a statement.

“Passenger traffic for the month increased 15.3% year-on-year, in tandem with the increase in aircraft movements which grew 10.6% to 27,000. Airfreight movements decreased 1.8% to 163,000 tonnes during the month,” according to SIN.

In the first three months of this year, SIN recorded 12.3 million passenger movements, an increase of 12.9% compared to the corresponding period in 2011.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has deployed about 640 Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) body-scanning machines to 165 airports, but the expensive equipment is not always deployed cost-effectively, according the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).