The Competition Commission (CC) will today seek to rubbish accusations of bias levied by airport regulator BAA, whom it has ordered to be broken up.
Addressing the Competition Appeal Tribunal, the CC will spell out its rejection of the charges while once again accusing the regulator of pursuing delaying tactics.
BAA has been ordered to sell three of its bases in Scotland and the south-east of England after the commission concluded that it operates an effective monopoly.
The tribunal heard yesterday (October 19) that BAA believes the CC has abided by an "acute and intolerable" conflict of interest in reaching its verdict.
That allegation hinges on the fact that one of the members of the CC panel, Peter Moizer, has also served as an adviser to an offshoot of the Manchester Airports Group (MAG) – one of the parties that has publicly declared an interest in bidding for Gatwick.
"Manchester Airports Group's money is under his control and advice," BAA told the appeal.
But the CC will openly challenge that view in court today, accusing the regulator of deliberately seeking to stall its divestment order by alleging bias at the last minute.
The commission has noted that BAA was aware of Mr Moizer's position as early as April 2007, and yet it only raised its objection upon publication of the CC report last year.
"When all the relevant circumstances are examined, BAA's case on apparent bias looks little more than a pretext for delaying implementation of the commission’s decisions," lawyers for the CC will submit today. "BAA is unable to put forward any serious ground of challenge."
The commission further alleges that BAA has backtracked on its contention that the order to sell three of its airports is unreasonable in light of the credit crunch.
The airport regulator declared yesterday that its opposition "is not dependent upon the existence of the credit crunch," despite previously complaining that the CC had failed to take into account the impact that "current market conditions" would have on Gatwick bids.
Global Infrastructure Partners is thought to be the current frontrunner in the Gatwick sell-off, though its prior bid of £1.3 billion falls well short of valuations for the airport.
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