Gatwick’s new owners have thrown down the gauntlet to BAA by poaching the boss of Stansted and promising improved service standards at Britain’s second-largest airport.
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a fund that invests in infrastructure assets, announced that it had recruited Stewart Wingate, the former managing director of Stansted, to run Gatwick as it challenges the airport operator’s Heathrow and Stansted airports for passengers.
Under GIP’s ownership, Gatwick will aim to eliminate security and check-in queues and staff will be given “politeness lessons” to improve the passenger experience.
GIP took control of Gatwick yesterday, having paid BAA almost £1.5 billion for the airport. The sale has also been positive for BAA, allowing the company to reduce its debt to about £8.5 billion. The improved financial stability has, in turn, allowed BAA to refinance nearly £1 billion of outstanding debt on more attractive terms.
However, it has emerged that BAA could have been £100 million better off if the company, which is owned by Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure group, had accepted a rival bid 12 months ago.
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A consortium, including several large pension funds, is thought to have offered £1.6 billion for Gatwick, but BAA chose to start an auction instead. The airport’s price started to fall as the economic environment worsened, with aviation hit particularly hard. People familiar with the auction said that no firm bids were tendered.
After a 13-month bidding process, GIP has finally taken control of Gatwick, the world’s busiest single-runway airport. It has already begun to shake up an airport that has often been criticised for poor standards and its ageing facilities.
The fund has brought in three new people to join Gatwick’s eight-strong executive committee and appointed Sir David Rowlands, the former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Transport, as the chairman of the airport’s board of directors.
In addition to Mr Wingate, Scott Stanley has been appointed the chief operating officer and Ray Melee joins as project director.
Andy Flowers, the former managing director of Gatwick, has quit along with three other senior executives. GIP declined to comment on possible compensation payouts for the departing executives.
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Sir David said: “Our plan is to gain a competitive edge by modernising Gatwick . . . and to do this as cost effectively as possible.”