Airport News

Ryanair said it would not be taking part in the sale of London's Stansted airport after the airport's owner, BAA, excluded the budget airline from the process.

Ferrovial-owned BAA put Stansted, Britain’s fourth-busiest airport, on the block in August after it was forced to sell off assets by the country's competition regulator.

Ryanair had previously stated that it had held talks with potential bidders for Stansted after it was asked to consider acquiring a minority stake as part of a consortium.

But Ferrovial had now excluded Ryanair from the process, the airline said on Tuesday, without citing any reasons.

"Since Ryanair does not wish to prejudice other potential investors in Stansted, it has written to all investors/consortia it has held discussions with to advise them that Ryanair will not participate in the sale process or seek a minority stake," it said in a statement.

Around 70 percent of Stansted's traffic – 18 million passengers last year – was with Ryanair, the airline said.

The battle for the airport – which analysts estimated in August could fetch up to USD$2 billion – is expected to draw Manchester Airports Group, US banks, pension funds and Asian operators.