BAA reviews below-the-line agencies for retail activities

BAA is reviewing its roster of below-the-line agencies that work on the group’s retail marketing activities.

The airport management company, which works with a range of agencies, appointed J Walter Thompson, Delaney Lund Knox Warren and Claydon Heeley Jones Mason to handle the &£5m retail advertising account last year. Below-the-line agency 141 also works on the business.

Last year, the agencies were briefed to raise awareness of the BAA brand, while trying to eliminate confusion surrounding the abolition of duty free to travellers within the EU.

It is understood the tender process will be open until the end of the year and any appointment is unlikely to take place before March 2002. No one at BAA was available for comment as Marketing Week went to press.

The company, which owns seven UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, has been hit this year by the foot-and-mouth crisis, with passenger numbers generally down.

Heathrow has been one of the worst hit, with an 11.5 per cent drop in numbers travelling on the North Atlantic route in May. July, traditionally the strongest month for the route, saw numbers recover slightly, with only a 7.1 per cent decrease compared with last year.

Budget airlines Ryanair, Buzz and Go helped keep passenger numbers at Stansted up with an increase of 14.8 per cent to 1.5 million.