Partner Article

Change of name for BAA

Airport owner BAA has changed its name, after the firm said British Airports Authority was no longer fitting with the shape of the business.

In a “symbolic break with the company of the past”, Heathrow Limited will replace the BBA Ltd. name, while BAA Funding will be called Heathrow Funding.

The Spanish-owned firm will now operate each of its airports under the stand-alone names of each individual airport.

Heathrow, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Southampton and Stansted will act under their own names, after the firm said: “The BAA name no longer fits”.

Edinburgh airport was sold this year for £807m to Global Infrastructure Partners, and the re-named BAA also has plans to sell Stansted.

The company has sold off airports at Gatwick, Budapest and Naples in the last five years, which led to the name change on Monday morning.

Colin Matthews, Chief Executive of the newly-named Heathrow , said: “We are a different company today from when BAA was formed.

“We do not represent all British airports; we are not a public authority; and practically speaking the company is no longer a group as Heathrow will account for more than 95% of the business.

“We want Heathrow’s focus to be on its customers, to continue to improve its operational performance and to carry on investing billions of pounds in new passenger facilities.”

Mr Matthews congratulated Heathrow, the official airport for the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year, for its performance over the summer.

He added: “Now we have to build on that …further, providing a better experience to our customers every single day.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .