Leading airport company BAA is outsourcing the delivery of its IT services to a consortium led by Capgemini UK plc in a five-year contract valued at approximately £100 million.

BAA says that the move will be key to improving the airport experience for all its stakeholders, including passengers, staff, airlines and retailers, at Heathrow and the company’s other five UK airports. The consortium, assembled and led by Capgemini as prime contractor, includes SITA, Atkins, Computacenter and Amor Group.

Capgemini will be responsible for the delivery of BAA’s core IT services on a day-to-day basis, including applications, infrastructure and projects, for some 10,000 users. The service will cover BAA’s six UK airports and will start in May after a two-month transition. BAA will retain responsibility for IT strategy, stakeholder management and ensuring the quality of IT services in collaboration with Capgemini. Some 200 staff will be eligible to transfer to Capgemini and its partners under TUPE conditions.

Philip Langsdale, chief information officer at BAA, said: "Because our focus is on running airports, it makes sense for specialist IT functions to be outsourced, which is also much more cost effective. We want to improve our resilience and ensure that we have the right systems in place to share the right information at the right time. Capgemini will have a key role in supporting this.”