Ferrovial has put 10 percent of BAA up for sale in a bid to cut its debt burden. The Spanish construction group has been under extreme financial pressure since buying the airport operator and has debts of £22bn, of which £13bn is made up by BAA.

BAA has formally conceded defeat in its campaign for a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport by withdrawing its planning application. The airport operator has also ditched plans for a second runway at Stansted following the election of the new government.

Heathrow and Gatwick have become the latest airports to be closed amid fresh fears about volcanic ash from Iceland. The Civil Aviation Authority has decided to shut the two key London airports as a safety precaution.

Demolition work has begun on Heathrow Terminal 2 as work begins for a new £1 billion facility on the site. At its height the terminal saw as many as eight million passengers passing through each year, with the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor among its many visitors.

The Department of Transport has been defeated on proposed plans to build a third runway at Heathrow, following a judicial review at the High Court in London. A judge has ruled the development cannot proceed until a second public consultation has been carried out.

The Board of Airline Representatives UK (Bar UK) has dealt a body blow to proposals for a new London airport in the Thames Estuary, with nine out of ten airlines rejecting the proposals. The plan now looks increasingly unlikely to succeed, despite the support of mayor Boris Johnson.