BAA once ran seven UK airports, but with the sale of Gatwick and Edinburgh and the expected disposal of Stansted, it will end up with four - Heathrow, Southampton, Aberdeen and Glasgow. Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA, said he expected Edinburgh to "flourish" under its new ownership. "BAA will continue to focus on improving passengers' journeys at Heathrow and its other airports," said Mr Matthews. The sale of Edinburgh is expected to be completed next month. The airport handles 9.5m passengers and caters 40 airlines, serving more than 100 destinations. JP Morgan's infrastructure fund had been working with Korea's Incheon International Airport and American teachers' pension fund Tiaa-Cref on an alternative bid for the airport. It is understood that the offer had been was weakened after Tiaa-Cref dropped out of the consortium. Private equity firms Carlyle and 3i had also been among those looking at a bid but had been put off by BAA's price tag.