A series of international firms are reported to be targeting Gatwick Airport as owner BAA faced being broken up by competition bosses.

Germany's Hochtief, Global Infrastructure Partners, the GE-Credit Suisse Investment fund, Australia's Macquarie and Britain's Manchester Airport Group have all indicated their interest to BAA chairman Sir Nigel Rudd, a newspaper has reported.

Other bidders including American and Asian groups are expected to emerge in the coming months in what could be a multi-billion pound tussle, the paper added.

The interest comes as Sir Nigel revealed that he expected the Competition Commission to recommend the sell-off of Gatwick or Stansted - or both - with one of the Scottish airports.

That would be the first time the commission, whose provisional findings from a probe into the firm's position are released this week, has forced the sale of assets outside of a takeover or merger situation.

BAA, which was bought by the Spanish property group Ferrovial in 2006, has a near monopoly on airports in South east England and Scotland - owning Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen.

It has been widely criticised for poor passenger facilities and excessive airline charges, culminating in the fiasco of the opening of Heathrow's Terminal Five earlier this year.

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