Brussels may allow airlines to buy and sell airport landing rights in a bid to ease congestion at Heathrow and other European hubs.
The move would boost the balance sheets of most big airlines, who are not allowed to list their valuable landing and take-off slots as assets.
Qantas, the Australian carrier, recently paid £20 million in an exchange deal for two peak-time slots at Heathrow. At that price, BA's slots at Britain's busiest airport could be worth more than £2 billion.
Under current European Union rules, airlines are not allowed to buy and sell airport spaces openly, although a 'grey market' exists, in which slots can be exchanged. But a spokesman said the European Commission was considering a report which claims that some peak-time slots are underused by owners, and that a free trade in landing rights would match supply to demand.
