France – Aug 31/18 – French Players Rally in Anticipation of Lille Airport Concession
Eiffage, VINCI and other prominent French players are reported to be positioning to bid for the right to operate the Lille airport, located in northern France. The privatization process is expected to kick off by the end of the year. Serving the Lille Capital-Métropole area and Nord-Pas de Calais region, the airport handled 1.9m passengers in 2017.
Chile – Aug 23/18 – El Tepual Airport Concession Subject to Possible “Adjustments” as Sacyr Eyes Other Chilean Concessions
The contract awarded to the Sacyr-Agunsa consortium to expand and operate El Tepual airport, near Chile’s southern city of Puerto Montt, is anticipated to undergo unspecified “adjustments” as Sacyr considers involvement in the next round of Chilean highway concessions. Sacyr and Agunsa have also been collaborating on other projects, including concession of Paraguay’s Asunción Airport, where they were identified at preferred bidder, however award has been stymied by a court challenge.
Haiti – Aug 21/18 – Cabinet Seeking Private-sector Participation in New Port-de-Paix Airport
The Haitian Cabinet is reported to be planning the development of a new airport in Port-de-Paix, located in the country’s north-west region under a public-private partnership model. Designed to initially accommodate Category 3 aircraft, the ultimate build-out could see extension of the runway to 4D standards to facilitate medium-haul/charter operations.
France – Aug 18/18 – Suitors Circling as French State Readies AdP for Market Sale
The highly-anticipated sale of 50.6% of the French state’s stake in AdP is on track for 2019, according to key sources. The deal is expected to fetch up to EUR10b , based on AdP’s current market valuation. The move is part and parcel of President Emmanuel Macron’s broader strategy to fund “new economy” innovation initiatives. Lead players expected showing initial interest include; Global Infrastructure Partners, VINCI and IFM.
Nepal – Aug 15/18 – Law-makers Consider PPP Model for Gautam Buddha Airport
The government of Nepal is said to be considering a public-private partnership model for the Gautam Buddha Airport in Bhairahawa. A drive to partnering with “trustable” domestic and/or investors is gaining traction with law-makers in the country, as it nears completion of upgrades to the airport, which are due to be commissioned up by mid-2019.
Turkey – Aug 12/18 – First Phase of Istanbul’s New International Gateway Airport Set to Open in October
Istanbul’s new mega-hub airport project is rapidly reaching completion, with the first of four phases set to open in late October. Occupying an area of roughly 75 million square meters, the new hub is located 35km north of İstanbul. At full build-out, the six-runway site will have the capacity to handle 90 million passengers/year, serving 300+ destinations.
United States – Aug 11/18 – LaGuardia Celebrates Opening of New Fly-over Ramp
LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B recently celebrated the opening of a new flyover ramp with the project’s key champion Governor Andrew Cuomo. Completion of the new flyover ramp is the one first major milestones in the comprehensive USD4.0b transformation of LaGuardia Airport by Gateway Partners, which includes Skanska and Vantage Airport.
Montenegro – Aug 08/18 – Government Considers Concession for Podgorica and Tivat Airports
The government of Montenegro has announced plans to concession Podgorica and Tivat international airports for a 25-30 year term. A request for expressions of interest is anticipated in the coming months. TAV Airports reportedly held talks with the government late last year to assess concession viability of the two airports.
Germany – Aug 06/18 – Fraport Exiting Hanover with Sale of Minority Stake to iCON
In a move that surprised many industry watchers, Fraport recently announced the signing of an agreement with iCON Flughafen for sale of its 30% share in Flughafen Hannover-Langenhagen for EUR109.2m. The remaining 70% stake is held equally by the City of Hanover and the Hannoversche Beteiligungsgesellschaft (wholly-owned by the State of Lower Saxon).
Mexico – Aug 01/18 – AMLO’s Team Assessing Private Concession Option for Delivery of Mexico’s New Airport
The new AMLO government is said to be assessing the prospects of structuring the new Mexico City Airport project as a private concession versus a conventional public procurement/funding model. AMLO’s infrastructure team in the process of assessing technical and financial options to deliver the USD13.4b project, which is currently being funded from the public purse.