The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced today (March 24) its decision to remove price cap controls for air cargo services at Stansted Airport from April 1.

Following a two-year review, the CAA has concluded that Stansted does not have substantial market power in its cargo operations and that it should be free from regulation to compete with other airports for cargo services.

The announcement comes after the CAA decided in January that the passenger side of Stansted’s business would also be deregulated from April 1 this year.

Responding to the CAA’s announcement, commercial director for cargo at Manchester Airports Group (M.A.G), Graeme Ferguson, said: “The CAA’s decision today to take Stansted’s cargo operations out of economic regulation is a clear endorsement of the changes M.A.G has made at Stansted under new ownership over the past 12 months.

“The move is a positive recognition by the CAA that in Stansted’s case, competition rather than regulation will deliver the best outcomes for customers.”

He added: “We believe there is a significant opportunity to grow the cargo business at Stansted by adopting a different commercial approach, and we are committing considerable time and effort engaging with cargo operators.

“With spare capacity to support significant growth and additional economic activity, M.A.G sees this announcement as a key development in its strategy for developing Stansted Airport into a thriving cargo airport and continuing the airport’s return to growth.”

Stansted is one of the largest freight hubs in the UK and home to an international cargo operation that transports over 210,000 tonnes of goods and 30,000 tonnes of mail to destinations in nearly every continent, including the Americas, the Far East, Africa and the Middle East.

The airport’s status as a major international cargo facility is reinforced by the number of industry leaders that have already chosen to operate from the airport – Asiana, FedEx, Martinair, Royal Mail, Panalpina, Silkway, Atlantic Airways, Titan, TNT and UPS.

Earlier this month, Qatar Airways announced it will become the latest major airline to join Stansted’s global cargo network when it begins a new service from Doha in May 2014.