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.

Among firms interested in running Gatwick are Britain's Virgin group, run by Richard Branson, but international firms including Australia's MacQuarie, and Fraport, the owners of Germany's Frankfurt airport, are also understood to be interested. dpa