Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has confirmed he will bid for Gatwick Airport.

BAA has been forced to sell the terminal by competition watchdogs who want to see a break-up of its monopoly of the major south east airports Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

Sir Richard’s airline said it would "relish" the chance to buy Gatwick after BAA bowed to pressure from the Competition Commission and put Gatwick up for sale. It wants to hold onto Heathrow and Stansted.

BAA, now owned by Spanish firm Ferrovial, came under fire for baggage handling chaos at Heathrow, the turmoil surrounding the opening of Terminal Five, and generally poor levels of service for airlines and passengers.

Gatwick is used by 35 million passengers a year and is likely to have a price tag of around £3bn.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway said his airline would "relish the opportunity to bid for Gatwick as part of a consortium and inject our customer service expertise into the future running of the airport."

Manchester Airport Group has also expressed interest in Gatwick. Other possible bidders are thought to be Hochtief, Global Infrastructure Partners, the GE-Credit Suisse Investment fund and Australia’s Macquarie group.

Trade union chiefs have condemned the proposed sell-off, saying that it would hit staff and passengers.

Meanwhile, the sale could give a boost to regional airports such as Kent International, Manston, and Lydd.

Speaking a few weeks ago, Zaher Deir, managing director of London Ashford Airport at Lydd, welcomed the likely sale of Gatwick.volved.

Mr Deir said: "We are pleased with the decision of the Competition Commission in regards to the BAA ownership. I believe the whole dynamic of South East airport’s will be more competitive, plus the fact that regional airports will benefit a great deal.

"The congestion at the main airports will not change due to them operating at maximum capacity, however smaller airports will enjoy the spill over and will be able to build on the increase of the number of aircraft movements and passenger numbers."