London - London's Gatwick airport, the second biggest in Britain, will be sold to a new owner following a ruling by the competition commission, its present owners BAA said Wednesday.

Several national and international firms are believed to be interested in buying Gatwick, south of London, which in terms of flight volume is the world's seventh-biggest airport.

Analysts said it could be sold for up to 2 billion pounds (3.6 billion dollars).

Around 35 million passengers passed through Gatwick in 2007.

The competition watchdog ruled last month that one of London's three main airports may have to be sold following complaints of a BAA monopoly.

Country’s premier international airline, Jet Airways, has disclosed that it has diversified its domestic network with the launch of three new daily services from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam, Goa and Pune.

According to the sources, the airline rolled out its inaugural services on these sectors with its innovative, high tech ATR 72-500 aircraft.

Madrid - The airline Spanair did not heed the safety recommendations of McDonnell Douglas, the maker of the MD-82 jet that crashed at Madrid airport on August 20, killing 154 people, press reports said Tuesday.

Quoting a preliminary draft report by an investigating commission, the reports said the plane's wing flaps, which provide extra lift, were not extended properly for a reason that remains unclear.

The pilots ignored the problem, because the security mechanism that should have alerted them of it was not in order.

A similar problem occurred before a MD-82 crashed in Detroit in 1987, also killing 154 people.

Brussels  - Lufthansa is to take over Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines, the two carriers said Monday in Brussels, just over two weeks after confirming they were in merger talks.

In a first step, the big German airline is to pay 65 million euros (91 million dollars) to acquire 45 per cent of Brussels Airlines from SN Holding. Lufthansa can acquire the rest between 2011 and 2014 at a market price not to exceed 250 million euros.

Vienna  - Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and the Russian carrier S7 will likely bid for the takeover of Austrian Airlines, several Austrian media reported Monday.

Austria's state holding company OeIAG is seeking to sell its 42.75- per-cent stake in the Austrian flag carrier by late October.

Sources close to the OeIAG's governing board told Austrian news agency APA that British Airways was no longer on the shortlist that is to be formalized on Tuesday.