Airport operator BAA argues Heathrow is "jam-packed" and needs a third runway to remain competitive globally.
In making its ruling, the commission decided that the lack of competition in the south-east of England, where BAA also operates Heathrow, and in lowland Scotland was bad for passengers and airlines.
In addition to Heathrow, BAA owns Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, and Aberdeen airports.
The airport is being sold by Heathrow Airport Holdings, formerly called BAA, which will continue to own London Heathrow, Southampton, Aberdeen, and Glasgow airports.
But the biggest blow to BAA's future is the implacable opposition of the Conservative Party to its plans for expanding Heathrow, the jewel in BAA's crown.
ECONOMIST: Britain��s biggest airport operator feels hard done by
Heathrow Airport operator BAA reported slight flight delays but said they were mainly down to fog.
Other OBEs go to Andrew Wolstenholme, BAA's project director for Heathrow Terminal 5, and Terrence Grote, the former managing director of The Independent newspaper.
Glasgow is owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings, formerly known as BAA, which also operates Aberdeen Airport.
BBC: Glasgow Airport reports busiest November for four years
The latest monthly figures from BAA showed that May's passenger numbers between Heathrow and Greece were down 11.3% from a year earlier.
BAA's UK airports - which also include Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - handled a record 14.2 million passengers in July, a rise of 8% on last year.
An inquiry has been launched by BAA to look into "what went wrong" at Heathrow Airport as flights were grounded for days following snowfall.
Heathrow, the dominant London airport in the BAA group, was down 3.1% compared with June last year, with Stansted, the budget airline hub, down 11.5%.
This book was the result of a stint the essayist and philosopher spent at Heathrow in the summer, after its owner, BAA, installed him as a temporary writer-in-residence.
The growth in traveller numbers at Heathrow was part of a trend of improved figures at the airport, BAA said.
But crowded Heathrow generates plenty of profit and Gatwick and Stansted are also owned by BAA, so reducing congestion is not the firm's top priority.
At Heathrow alone, there were 310 flight cancelations Saturday, and 133 Sunday, according to a BAA spokeswoman.
Express trains to Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports in London were all running as normal Tuesday, airport operator BAA said.
"The significant increase in capacity created by Terminal 5 gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to look at the rest of Heathrow and think creatively about how we can use our current very limited space better, " said BAA managing director Mike Temple.
Virgin Atlantic said BAA "still acted like a monopoly" and had neglected much-needed improvements at Gatwick, focusing instead on Heathrow.
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