THREE major UK airports have been “put up for sale” with the owners looking to capitalise on a boom in air travel.
The trio of British airports are estimated to be worth as much as £1.5billion each.
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Ontario Teachers‘ Pension Plan (OTPP) is in talks with its minority shareholders, who have a 30-day window to buy its stakes in five European airports, including London City Airport, Birmingham Airport and Bristol Airport, according to the Times.
Copenhagen and Brussels are the other continental assets which could be offloaded.
The five airports are estimated to be worth more than £10billion combined, reports the outlet.
OTPP owns stakes in each varying from 25 per cent to 70 per cent, meaning its share could be worth more than £3.5 billion.
The sale could also spark a flurry of action as other investors may look to sell their shares, with Australian giant Macquarie already circling.
Jet2 announced record profits last week, and easyJet is expected to report strong numbers this week – a sign that air travel is bouncing back big time.
Other UK airports have already changed hands this year, with investors keen to get a slice of the action.
Spanish firm Ferrovial sold its stake in Heathrow to a Saudi-French consortium for £3.3 billion, while French group Vinci bought a majority stake in Edinburgh Airport for £1.3 billion.
AGS Airports, which runs Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Southampton, was sold for £1.5 billion to a Canadian pension fund earlier this month.
Experts say these deals were valued at up to 23 times annual earnings, meaning Birmingham and Bristol could each be worth more than £1.5 billion.
London City, which OTPP bought for £2 billion in 2016, could now fetch a lot more after getting the green light to raise its annual passenger cap from 6.5 million to 9 million.
Copenhagen Airports, where OTPP owns a third of the shares, is valued at £3.3 billion on the stock market.
OTPP’s 30-day “right of first refusal” period is currently underway, meaning co-investors can buy its stakes.
However, Birmingham City Council, which owns 18.7 per cent of its airport, is unlikely to take up the option due to its financial troubles.
It comes after Birmingham Airport revealed its multi-million-pound renovation project, which will see more long-haul routes introduced.
The airport make huge changes over the next nine years in a bid to serve more than 18 million passengers by 2033.
According to TTG Media, Birmingham Airport bosses plan to reach its new passenger target by launching flights to a host of new destinations.
New flights will reportedly serve long-haul destinations like New York, Toronto, Mumbai and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, London City Airport was given permission for a huge expansion project that would add almost an extra 50 per cent of its capacity.
The UK government has approved the plans for London City Airport, which will be able to process an extra 2.5 million passengers, when the work is complete.
The decision overturns a blocked local-level decision, but maintains a ban on Saturday afternoon flights at the airport.
London City initially wanted to scrap that curfew, as it sought to expand annual capacity to 9 million passengers, up from 6.5 million, by 2031.
Currently flights cannot take off on Saturday afternoons from 12:30pm to 6:30pm local time.
While permission has been given for the expansion, the curfew will remain in place, following a review by the government.