Game-changer - Manston to stop being an airport

Manston and Prestwick have proved hard to sell. Unsurprisingly. Infratil wants to sell them because they're failures - and that's why they're hard to sell.

Infratil has been losing millions every year, for years, and they're eager to staunch the flow. The penny seems to have dropped that these two failed airports would be easier to sell... if they weren't airports.

So Infratil is putting the word out that they're prepared to stump up cash to help potential buyers transform the airports into, er, something they actually want to buy.

Do feel free to use the comments section to pass on any helpful suggestions for Manton's future... theme park... solar farm... race track... nature reserve...

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Infratil says it would consider investing in its two British airports to change their functions to help make them more attractive to sell.

The listed infrastructure investor's Glasgow Prestwick and Kent airports are for sale after years of under-performance. Last week, Dutch national carrier KLM confirmed it would start making twice daily flights from the Kent airport to Amsterdam from April 2013.

Infratil executive Tim Brown says the process of selling the airports has taken longer than the company expected. He says the company now has to look at a range of complex proposals and if the use of an airport is going to change, it will have ramifications for local communities.

Mr Brown says if airports are very successful then councils or cities often then tax them, but if they are struggling they may then either need subsidies or be closed and put to alternative use. He says the debate then becomes more complicated, which makes timeframes more difficult to guess. Mr Brown would neither confirm or deny whether Infratil is looking to buy Stanstead Airport in London.

Copyright © 2012, Radio New Zealand 19 November 2012