BAA has admitted it will be forced to sell off some of its key airports, such as Gatwick and Stansted, should the Competition Commission recommend a break-up of the company.

BAA chairman Sir Nigel Rudd said while he accepted such a ruling would not be a "disaster" for the company, he insisted that it would do little to increase competition at its main airport, Heathrow.

BAA, which was bought by the Spanish property group Ferrovial 2006, has a near monopoly on airports in South east England and Scotland - owning Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen.

It has been widely criticised for poor passenger facilities and excessive airline charges, culminating in the fiasco of the opening of Heathrow's Terminal Five earlier this year.

Sir Nigel accepted that in its provisional findings to be published next week, the Competition Commission was likely to recommend the sell-off of Gatwick or Stansted - or both - together with one of the Scottish airports.

"All things that I'm hearing, they're going to make those kind of recommendations," he said.

However, he said that it would make little difference to the situation at Heathrow.

"Heathrow does not compete with Gatwick and with Stansted or with Luton or Manchester," he said.

"It competes with Charles de Gaulle (Paris), it competes with Dubai now and with Schiphol (Amsterdam), because these are big international hub airports so the ownership of these airports actually has nothing to do with competition.

"I think there is a mood in the country that just wants the business broken up. But I think the competition issue actually doesn't wash."

Paul Charles, director of communications at Virgin Atlantic, said: "We will fully support the break-up. Frankly it is about time.

"Monopolies do not help consumers ever. It was almost as if BAA had won the lottery without doing anything. They have been in a position where, essentially, they could control how we travel."

He said the monopoly meant BAA had always favoured Heathrow over the other airports, with Gatwick suffering from a lack of investment.

"Virgin Atlantic will be looking very closely at whether it is sensible for a consortium of airlines to potentially own Gatwick. It may make sense because airlines know how to deliver to consumers."

A BA spokeswoman said: "The key factor is that the airports develop in a way that best meets customers' needs. Structure is secondary to ensuring that customers get what they want."

Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said: "We've been calling for the break-up for a long time and the need has escalated every year.

He said i would be one of the most exciting developments in transport for many years.

"What we really would hope is for Stansted to also be taken out of BAA ownership. It would be a token gesture to just sell Gatwick. Ryanair is not in the market to buy Stansted airport, but if there was a very attractive price, we would obviously review our position."

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