Commentaries

How not to regulate airports: BAA, the Competition Commission and regulatory reform

7th October 2007 commentary

The Report by the Competition Commission (CC) into the economic regulation of BAA’s London airports has a significance far beyond the perimeter fences of Heathrow and Gatwick airports. It is the first full periodic review of a regulated utility that the CC has looked at for some considerable time. Core generic issues such as the cost of capital, the determination of capital expenditure and the penalties for poor customer service have been set on a sector by sector basis, and unsurprisingly many have looked to the CC to impose some order on the heterogeneous outcomes which have emerged to, in effect, regulate the regulators.

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