The UK's Competition Commission may be set to recommend the break-up of BAA, which operates seven airports including London's Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted, a newspaper reported.

Such a ruling would force BAA, which is owned by Spain's Ferrovial, to sell at least one of its airports.

That would most likely be Gatwick, which could fetch up to GBP2 billion pounds (USD$3.85 billion), The Observer newspaper said.

The competition watchdog is due to announce the provisional findings of its inquiry in the next two weeks.

The Commission is investigating whether problems faced by airline passengers through Britain, as highlighted by the botched opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5, are caused or exacerbated by BAA's monopoly.

In April, it said the operator may not be best serving the interests of airlines or passengers.

The commission's preliminary study found that, under a single owner, there was no competition among some of the airports.