Infratil Airports Europe; right ingredients wrong outcome

Infratil's assessment of their European airports, in their own words...

In the 1990s Australia and New Zealand were amongst the first countries to sell state-owned airports and to allow their commercial operation. The resulting value uplift encouraged Australasian investors to look at markets where similar developments were occurring, which led to Europe.

Infratil invested in Prestwick, Kent and Lübeck airports and purchased an option over an airport near Berlin. These airports were acquired at well below replacement cost as rapid growth in European air travel made it likely that their capacity would soon become needed and valuable.

Kent for instance cost less than £20 million and the next London runway will cost over £2 billion (Mayor Boris Johnson’s preferred site in the Thames Estuary is likely to cost over £20 billion).

Notwithstanding this enormous potential, Infratil has now called it quits. European air traffic growth has slowed so that the need for additional airfield capacity is postponed, and Infratil’s assessment of the relative benefits of waiting (and continuing to meet operating cost) versus refocussing elsewhere have favoured exit.

Infratil Update September 2012