BAA is to seek a judicial review of the Competition Commission’s decision to force the sale of two of its airports.

At present, BAA is required to sell Stansted Airport and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport, however, BAA is challenging the decision based on changes in circumstances since the original decision in 2009 was made, making the sale of Stansted Airport unnecessary.

Stansted Airport was the only BAA airport to experience a fall in passenger numbers in August.

The airport handled 1,982,800 passengers in August, down 5.1% when compared with August 2010.

The drop in passenger numbers is being blamed on cutbacks in airline capacity.

In a rolling 12-month period, September 2010 to August 2011, Stansted saw a 5.9% drop in passenger traffic compared to the previous 12 months.

BAA, who is being forced to sell off Stansted Airport by the Competition Commission, have reportedly started talking to banks about the sale.

According to the Telegraph, BAA is preparing to see a number of investment banks at the end of September to assist them with the sale next year.

Rumours are that Stansted Airport could be sold for sums of around £1.2bn

BAA is also being forced to sell either Edinburgh or Glasgow also.

Stansted Airport are about to close the short list for local charities to win the airport’s £50,000 annual charity donation.

The Stansted Community Fund, a part of BAA’s Communities Trust, is in its second year and plans to annually donate a large sum of money to a local charity or not-for-profit organisation that is involved with either the environment, education or employment.

The closing date for the short list is Friday 2nd September, of which the winner will be chosen from a panel of local judges.

Last year, local charity the Hatfield Broad Oak Village Green Project won the Stansted charity donation.

Stansted Airport travellers can now benefit from a new Android app, following the success of the app first launched on the iPhone.

Travellers can check the latest departure information, as well as arrival times.

The app also includes a range of discounts for restaurants and shops situated at the airport, as well as offers on airport parking.

The app is free to download from Google’s Android Market – simply search for ‘Stansted’.

Since its original launch on the iPhone, 60,000 users have downloaded the app.

Air Berlin is set to scrap some UK flights.

Gatwick and Stansted flights to Hanover are to be withdrawn along with Stansted to Munster and Paderborn flights.

Manchester to Paderborn flights will also be axed, however, the airline will maintain the Gatwick to Nuremberg route, and Stansted flights to Dusseldorf, Nuremberg and Salzburg

Ryanair is to launch a new service from Stansted to Barcelona (El Prat).

Flights will operate twice daily from 1 December 2011.

Endeavour Business Centre Stansted, owned by Arora International Hotels, has initiated a combined recycling and Cancer Research charity campaign.

Staff at the business centre have begun collecting empty ink toner cartridges from Endeavour Business Centre’s client occupiers and recycling them each month, with all the proceeds going directly to Cancer Research UK.

Leanna Dileva, Centre Manager, said: “We have all known sufferers of cancer and we feel that the great work of Cancer Research UK deserves our support. We also actively promote a green approach to our business and by encouraging our customers to recycle we can also help charities to benefit.”

Endeavour Business Centre also aims to encourage eco-friendly modes of transport to the new centre by offering secure bicycle storage and shower and changing facilities.

Endeavour Business Centre Stansted is located in Endeavour House, adjacent to junction 8a of the M11 motorway and just minutes from the main terminal of Stansted airport.

Cambridge Airport has appointed Sheila Kissane as Airport Infrastructure Director with immediate effect.

Sheila, will work closely with the airport’s CEO Robert Marshall, and Airport Director Archie Garden to support the on-going commercial strategy of increasing business, regional and general aviation activity at the airfield.

This is a new role at the airport and has been introduced to maximise airport resources and bring together the existing infrastructure to better serve the development of the business.

On a day to day basis Sheila will be responsible for running feasibility studies for planned infrastructure developments such as modifications to the 60’s style terminal buildings; generating proposals to seek funding within the business for specific projects such as a new GA terminal; and upgrading the environmental focus through implementing a number of projects including the installation of new fuel tanker storage areas.

Sheila brings a wealth of experience to Cambridge Airport and joins Cambridge following a consultancy role at Gatwick Airport where she was Engineering, Procurement and Contracts Manager responsible for upgrading expired assets including internal signage, water tanks, air conditioning units and project managing the creation of a potential £20 million tender aimed to improve run-off capacity of the runways. Prior to this Sheila worked at Stansted Airport project managing capital investment plans for Airside and Landside developments. This followed a two year stint working at Dublin Airport as a senior project manager on a variety of major programmes including the delivery of the Terminal Two Pier E Apron.

A campaign to persuade the Chancellor to drop planned hikes in the tax levied on all flights leaving the UK was launched last Monday at airports across the country as a new poll is released showing 3 out of 4 people think that Air Passenger Duty (APD) should not go up in the next Budget. Of those saying APD should not go up 49 per cent said APD should be reduced. Only 6 per cent said APD should be increased.

The Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget that APD will rise by double inflation in 2012.

The ‘Hands off our Holiday’ campaign, backed by the Airport Operators Association (AOA), Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR-UK), and the British Air Transport Association (BATA) is urging people to email their MP via the website www.handsoffourholiday.com and to tweet their support for the hikes to be abandoned using the hashtag #handsoffourhols.

The poll, carried out by Opinium Research for the Hands off our Holiday campaign also shows that nearly 4 out of 5 people were unaware of the plans to further increase the tax by double inflation.

Commenting on the campaign, Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the AOA, said: “Our message to the Chancellor is that enough is enough. Air Passenger Duty has already gone up by 325% on long haul flights and 140% on short haul flights in the last five years. Family finances are under great pressure at the moment and most people save hard all year for their holiday. Working families deserve a break.”

Mike Carrivick, Chief Executive of BAR-UK, added: “The UK already has the highest rate of flight tax in the world. Why should families be discriminated against for wanting to fly off on a hard-earned break once a year?”

Simon Buck, Chief Executive of BATA said: “The government already takes nearly £3bn in tax from passengers. This is more than the tax on the banking industry. Most people simply aren’t aware how much flight tax they pay. The government should come clean about this stealth tax and drop the hikes planned for next year.”