Commission opens way to BAA break-up

By Alistair Osborne
Last Updated: 1:14am BST 12/08/2008

The Competition Commission is next week expected to kick-start the break-up of BAA after finding that the airport group’s monopolies in the South East and Scotland are not in the public interest.

Issuing its provisional findings after a 16-month investigation, the commission is expected to say that BAA’s ownership of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, along with three Scottish airports and Southampton, is not working to the benefit of passengers.

The commission has already given a strong hint of its likely findings in its "emerging thinking" document, published in April.

Alongside its provisional findings, the competition authority will also publish details of potential remedies, which could theoretically call for all three London airports to be in separate hands - though most City experts believe BAA would only be forced to sell Gatwick or Stansted and one of its Scottish trio of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Potential remedies will then go out to consultation, though next week’s findings are expected to trigger interest from infrastructure funds and other airport groups over auctions for BAA assets.

A consortium led by Spain’s Ferrovial bought BAA for £10.1bn, excluding debts, in 2006.

Analysts believe Gatwick could fetch at least £2bn, while last week Ryanair’s outspoken boss, Michael O’Leary, put the cat among the pigeons saying he could bid a similar sum for Stansted.

Pentagon to be tourist site as new Sept. 11 memorial opens

By xinhuanet.com | Aug 11, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced Thursday that it would become a tourist destination when a new memorial building for the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 opens next month.

The Defense Department said in a news release that it expected between 45,000 and 60,000 people to visit the memorial on Sept. 11this year, and up to 2 million people will tour the site in a year.

The memorial will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to commemorate the 184 deaths when terrorist-hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building, according to the Pentagon.

Considering that the Pentagon is a "unique place," the Defense Department said it will adopt measures to "ensure the important work in the building continues undisturbed."

"The fact that we're going to have a tourist attraction here has been a challenge for us," said Steven E. Calvery, director of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.

"The Pentagon reservation is not like the (National) Mall in Washington, where it's designed for visitors. We're just not designed that way," Calvery said.

According to Pentagon rules, no photography is allowed at the Pentagon buildings, but visitors can take pictures of the memorial.

"We will still reserve the right, if we see some suspicious activity, to take actions," Calvery said.

Air transport business may get worse

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The air transport business was slow during June this year compared to the same month last year, IATA Regional Vice President Majdi Sabri said on Saturday.

"A technical report prepared recently by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) emphasised lesser demand on air transport services during June," he indicated.

According to Sabri, growth of passenger demand on air travelling services plunged to 3.8 per cent, the lowest since 2003. Air cargo transport also declined by 0.8 per cent

The decline defied an expected increase in the travel rate during summertime which is considered the annual vacation season.

Sabri predicted that "the situation may get worse, especially due to a confidence decline among customers and companies in the sector, accompanied by the rise in fuel prices".

The IATA regional vice president described the sector's current slowdown as a crisis, noting that the sector's losses could be as high as $6 billion this year.

Despite the distinguished growth in this sector over the past five years in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the growth posted during the first half of this year was less than that recorded during the same period over the past five years, Sabri said.

The growth in the number of passengers travelling to and from MENA countries during the first half of this year was 10.6 per cent compared to 17.8 per cent during the same period last year, he indicated.

The levels of the freight transport business in the MENA region remained unchanged at around 11.8 per cent in growth compared to 2.4 per cent growth on the international level.

Earlier periodic reports prepared by IATA revealed that aviation companies in Latin America recorded the highest decline in the air cargo business, a drop of 12.8 per cent.

In terms of geographic contribution, Europe accounted for 34 per cent of passenger movement while Middle East contribution was 8 per cent.

More than 24 international aviation companies have declared bankruptcy since the beginning of this year.

Founded in 1945, IATA has become the prime vehicle forinter-airline cooperation, with its 230 members from 126 nations around the globe.

IATA works to help airlines boost their business by simplifying processes and increasing passenger convenience while reducing costs, improving efficiency and improving safety standards.