BAA - General Thread

[TheLocalYokel]

There is a school of thought that Ferrovial would get a higher price for EDI than GLA at the moment and has gone down this path to improve its cashflow.

 

[Aviador]

There is a school of thought that Ferrovial would get a higher price for EDI than GLA at the moment and has gone down this path to improve its cashflow.

That may well be the case but here's another way of looking at it. Would BAA want to hang-on to an airport that is supposedly under performing? Personally I am sure BAA have chosen to keep Glasgow for it's long term viability.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]BAA losses fall as passengers rise

BAA has reduced its losses for the first nine months of year after enjoying an increase in the number of passengers using its airports. The airports operator reported a pre-tax loss of £147m against a £193m loss in 2010, when results were hit by the volcanic ash cloud and BA strike. Its passengers were up by 4.3% in the period.

Chief executive Colin Matthews said fewer disruptions had helped the group, adding: ‘Our strong financial performance was driven by underlying growth in passenger numbers, higher revenue per passenger, continued cost control and no recurrence of the volcanic ash and strike disruptions of 2010.'

'We are focused on progressively improving passengers' experience and the service we offer airlines at Heathrow. The new Terminal 2 is rapidly taking shape and work is continuing on a baggage transfer system, which will move bags faster between Terminals 3 and 5. Our investment in these projects reflects our commitment to ensuring Heathrow's future as Europe's leading hub airport.’

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[News Guru]

[textarea]BAA passengers down 1.3%

BAA has reported a 'softening' in demand in October after seven months of growth, reflecting weakness in wider economic conditions. Passenger numbers at its UK airports fell by 1.3% during October compared with the same month last year. Domestic traffic fell by 9.9%, partially offset by increases in European scheduled and North Atlantic traffic of 1.2% and 1.1% respectively.

BAA’s Scottish airports saw passenger numbers up 2.1%. Aberdeen continued its recent strong performance with a 7.6% increase; Glasgow was up by 0.3% overall and recorded increases of 35% in European scheduled traffic and 47% in North Atlantic passengers; and Edinburgh continued its strong and resilient growth with passenger numbers up 1.8%, with passenger growth helped by nearly twenty new routes that have launched at the airport since the beginning of the year.

At Heathrow, despite a drop of 1.3% in total passengers, its first monthly fall since December 2010, record traffic was seen over the school half-term. There was a 17% decline in passengers on domestic routes, which closely matched a 16% drop in the number of seats offered on these routes. European scheduled traffic was up 1.7% and North Atlantic up 0.3%.

Stansted saw lower levels of capacity particularly on domestic routes, which was the major factor in a drop of 4.9% in total passengers. However, 81.8% of seats were filled on its flights – a record for October. Southampton recorded a drop in passengers of 3%.

In total BAA’s airports recorded a drop of 0.8% in the total number of commercial aircraft movements handled despite an increase of 0.5% at Heathrow, which produced another monthly record of aircraft movements. Cargo volumes were impacted by disruption experienced amongst cargo operators, which contributed to a 7.5% decline in cargo tonnage passing through BAA airports during October.

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[News Guru]

[textarea]BAA shareholders to receive £240m dividend

BAA, the owner of Heathrow and Stansted airports, has been accused of ‘profiteering’ after setting out plans to pay its shareholders a £240m dividend this year, the Independent reports. BAA (SP) Ltd, which owns the two London airports as well as the Heathrow Express train service, said the payout would be ‘set initially’ at £60m per quarter to shareholders this year. It is the first divident for investors since 2006, when BAA was acquired by a consortium led by the Spanish construction group Ferrovial for £10.3bn.

Budget airline Ryanair hit out at the plans, saying the dividend was generated by BAA ‘overcharging’ passengers. A spokesman for the airline said: ‘Over the past five years BAA has doubled its charges to airlines at Stansted, and is generating excess profits which it is now distributing to shareholders. However, during this five-year period, traffic at Stansted has collapsed from over 24 million in 2007 to just over 18 million in 2011.’

‘BAA is further enriching its Spanish shareholders while it strangles London traffic, tourism and jobs. BAA is an abusive airport monopoly which has engaged in significant overcharging and monopoly profiteering at Stansted.’

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[News Guru]

[textarea]BAA lose Stansted sale appeal

BAA has lost its appeal against a ruling that it must sell Stansted Airport, the UK's forth busiest passenger hub. The Competition Commission first ruled three years ago that its dominance in London and Scotland meant it must sell Gatwick, Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports. BAA sold Gatwick and is in the process of selling Edinburgh, but it has continued to fight the Stansted decision. The airports operator said it was ‘disappointed’ and was considering its position.

BAA argued that it was not reasonable to consider Stansted as serving the same market as its other London airport, Heathrow, as they serve different markets and are used by different airlines. As a result, BAA said it was not anti-competitive for it to operate both airports. The airports operator also believes being forced to sell the other airports is unfair because the prevailing economic conditions mean they will not fetch a fair price and because the airports market in the southeast of England has changed.

The competition authority did not agree. The appeal was dismissed by the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, a judicial body whose panel is made up of judges and industry experts.

The ruling is the latest twist in a long battle between BAA and the Competition Commission, stretching back to 2009 when it ruled that the group exerted a dominant hold on airports in Scotland and the southeast of England. A BAA spokesman said: ‘We are disappointed by the decision of the CAT, which we will now carefully consider before making any further statements.

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[News Guru]

[textarea]BAA passengers up 0.5%; record January for Heathrow

BAA's UK airports served a total of 7.5 million passengers in January, an increase of 0.5% on last year. Heathrow handled 5.2 million passengers in the month, a record for January and up 2.3% on 2011.

Heathrow saw above average increases in European scheduled passengers (up 4.6%) and North Atlantic passengers (up 5.4%). However, Heathrow's China traffic in January, including Hong Kong, was down by 0.7% on 2011. Load factors were up 2.2%, and the size of aircraft operated increased by 0.8% compared with January last year.

Stansted recorded a drop in passengers of 6.6% compared to last year, driven by a reduction in European traffic. Southampton recorded a drop of 0.9%, largely as a result of a 1.5% drop in domestic traffic. Glasgow and Edinburgh reported falls in passenger traffic of 0.4% and 4.4% respectively, with Aberdeen passengers up 13.9%.

Across the group as a whole, the number of air transport movements fell by 1.0% to 71,800 compared with a year earlier; within this Heathrow saw a reduction of 0.7%, largely as a result of services cancelled earlier in the month because of high winds. Domestic traffic fell by 3.9% at Group level, with the greatest decline at Heathrow, where it dropped 6.6%. International traffic was up across the group by 1.5%.

Total air freight was down by 2.6% at 130,600 tonnes with Heathrow down by 3.3%. Both these results are consistent with the current worldwide weakness in air freight and trade.

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