THE bosses of four of Britain’s top airlines will tomorrow urge transport secretary Ruth Kelly to reform airport regulation and push for the break-up of BAA.

Their meeting with Kelly comes hard on the heels of a tough report from the transport committee yesterday, which called for airports operator BAA to lose its near-monopoly.

Aviation industry sources said it was unusual for the four carriers to seek a joint meeting with the government.

“They normally have quite different agendas, but they take these airport issues so seriously that they have come together,” said one source.

The executives - BMI chief executive Nigel Turner, Easyjet chief executive Andrew Harri-son, Ryanair deputy chief executive Michael Cawley and Virgin chief executive Steve Ridgeway - have already condemned price increases granted to BAA last week by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the airports’ regulator.

BAA owns seven UK airports, including the London trio of Stan-sted, Heathrow and Gatwick, but the price changes applied only to the last two, Britain’s largest hubs.

“All four airlines believe the system of regulation in the UK is broken, and needs reforming,” said the industry source. “They will urge Kelly to make changes.”

Kelly has already commissioned a review of airport regulation, led by Sir Joseph Pilling, a former permanent undersecretary in the Northern Ireland office.

In a recent report the Competition Commission suggested that airport regulation should be scrutinised.

Airlines - including British Airways, which will not be at tomorrow’s meeting - were harshly critical of the price rises approved by the CAA over the next five years.

Executives said they did not reflect the current financial plight of most carriers, and accused BAA of “regulatory gaming” by submitting revised capital-expenditure programmes late in the process.

The CAA strongly rejected suggestions it had increased prices in response to BAA’s financial situation.

The company, bought by a consortium led by Spanish infra-structure group Ferrovial last year, faces the tough task of refinancing its debts in difficult credit markets.

“This is categorically not the case,” it said in a statement.

“In line with the CAA’s long-standing policy in this area, no adjustment has been (or will be) made to accommodate the particular financial arrangements that have been (or might be) put in place by BAA.”

In the fine print of its decision last week, the CAA also said it would be prepared to see one of the UK’s large airports go bust.

“At the limit the CAA would be prepared to let any one of the regulated airports fail,” the decision said.

The transport committee yesterday said BAA’s “monopoly” position in Britain’s airports was “unnecessary”.

“Indeed it is bad for passengers and bad for the aviation industry,” the committee said.

The airports group yesterday rejected the committee’s findings, saying it alone was prepared to invest in new capacity in the southeast.

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax