BAA plc
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BAA plc is the owner and operator of seven major United Kingdom airports and operator of several airports worldwide, making the company one of the largest transport companies in the world. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. At June 2005 its market capitalisation was approximately 6.6 billion pounds.
The British Airports Authority was established by the passing of the Airport Authority Act 1966, to take responsibility for four state-owned airports - London Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport and Prestwick International Airport. In the next few years, the authority acquired responsibility for Glasgow International Airport and Edinburgh Airport. The company are keen to point out that BAA does not stand for anything, and is not an acronym.
As part of Margaret Thatcher's moves to privatise government owned assets, the Airports Act (1986) was passed which mandated the creation of BAA plc as a vehicle by which stock market funds could be raised; the initial capitalisation of BAA plc was £1,225 million. In the early 1990's, the company sold off Prestwick. More recently it has expanded into international operations, for instance with a ten year retail contract at Boston Logan International Airport.
BAA makes its money from charging landing fees to airlines and also increasingly from the wide range of shops in airport terminals. Its turnover for the year to 31 March 2005 was £2.115 billion, and it made a profit before tax of £733 million and a net profit of £545 million.
BAA does not operate all UK airports; many are in the ownership of local authorities.
List of Airports owned by BAA
- London Heathrow Airport
- London Gatwick Airport
- London Stansted Airport
- Glasgow International Airport
- Edinburgh Airport
- Aberdeen Airport
- Southampton Airport
List of International Airports operated by BAA
External link
- Official site (http://www.baa.co.uk/)