The Competition Commission has welcomed a decision from the Court of Appeal to uphold requirements for BAA to sell Stansted Airport.

Laura Carstensen, chairman of the BAA Remedies Implementation Group and a member of the original Inquiry Group, said: “We are pleased that our decision on Stansted Airport has once again been upheld.

“It remains the right decision in the interests of passengers and airlines and it is surely now time for BAA to accept the verdict and proceed with the sale.”

BAA completed the sale of Edinburgh Airport to Global Infrastructure Partners in April this year, the second of three airport sales required by the CC following its 2009 report into BAA’s ownership of seven UK airports.

GIP bought Gatwick Airport from BAA in December 2009.

Following a number of legal challenges and a CC reassessment of the original decision, the CC brought forward in October 2011 the requirement for BAA to sell either Edinburgh or Glasgow Airport while BAA continued to challenge the sale of Stansted Airport.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) had already upheld the CC’s decision in February 2012.

BAA said in a statement: “We are disappointed that the Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the Competition Commission.

“We will now consider its judgment carefully and we intend to submit an appeal to the Supreme Court.”