ABSTRACT
The present [1985] pattern of ownership of civil airfields in Britain is a complex mixture reflecting in part the ebb and flow of postwar policies towards public ownership. The 1983 Conservative Manifesto pledged that ‘as many as possible of Britain’s airports shall become private sector companies’. Airports are at present owned by several different public sector bodies: the British Airports Authority (BAA), local authorities, and the Civil Aviation Authority, and there is one significant privately owned airport (Southampton). However, BAA’s London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted) handle nearly two-thirds of UK passenger traffic and issues regarding the effective use of capacity and investment are most sharply identified in the southeast.
