AIRPORT operator BAA has won a partial victory against a ruling forcing it to sell three airports.
The firm had challenged the legality of the Competition Commission's decision to make it sell Gatwick and Stansted, and either Glasgow or Edinburgh.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) concluded "with the greatest reluctance" that BAA's claim of "apparent bias" was successful.
BAA had said that Professor Peter Mozier, a member of the commission''s airports inquiry panel, had "a powerful connection"
to Manchester Airport Group, which had been interested in buying Gatwick.
However, BAA's appeal on the grounds that the commission had not allowed sufficient time for the sales failed.
The appeal tribunal has now invited both parties to make further submissions relating to the bias claim with a view to holding a further hearing in the new year.
Budget airline Ryanair said: "We are worried that this finding will allow the BAA monopoly to further delay the sale of Stansted Airport."
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