GLASGOW Airport could be sold off at the end of the year as part of a drive to offer air passengers more choice and cheaper flights.

GLASGOW Airport could be sold off at the end of the year as part of a drive to offer air passengers more choice and cheaper flights.

Speculation was today triggered by a damning report from the Competition Commission into the ownership of seven UK airports by BAA.

The Spanish operator runs Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Southampton in England as well as Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland.

The commission is due to publish another report in Augus, when it's expected to recommend that BAA sell of at least one airport in England and another in Scotland. It's fuelled speculation that one of the Scottish airports will be either Edinburgh or Glasgow, which is undergoing expansion with the new Skyhub.

Such a move was today welcomed by Rick Green, chief executive of budget airline flyglobespan.

He said: "Should the commission come to the conclusion that one of them should be under independent ownership, it would be hard to argue how that could be anything but a benefit to the Scottish traveller."

Mr Green added: "We have a duty as Scotland's leading airline to continuously offer our customers value for money and any action as a result of the commission's findings that drives down costs would be welcomed."

The commission today said BAA's common ownership of seven UK airports "may not be serving well the interests of either airlines or passengers".

And it signalled the likely break-up of the monopoly when it warned a further report in four months would set out possible remedies "whether requiring the sale of one or more of BAA's airports or otherwise".

An impending sale looks inevitable after the commission admitted it was "inclined to the view that common ownership of the BAA airports is a feature of the market that adversely affects competition between airports and/or airlines".

It added that it was concerned by BAA's "apparent lack of responsiveness to the differing needs of its airline customers and hence passengers".

Paul Charles, at Virgin Atlantic Airways, said: "It seems the Competition Commission has seen the light. It supports the views of every airline and every passenger, that there is no competition at our major airports."

But BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: "We recognise many of the concerns that have been expressed by airlines, and reflected by the commission, and we will be doing everything we can to address these.

"However, BAA remains of the view its ownership is in passengers' interests, both in terms of tackling the shorter term service problems, and in following through with major commitments to investment in new facilities and capacity."