GIP expands UK airports with Edinburgh addition

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Car Rental News - 26/04/2012

 

Edinburgh airport is to be added to GIP’s UK airports portfolio amid a deal worth some £800 million.

Reports surfaced early in the week that Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the current operators of Gatwick and City airports, is to acquire Edinburgh airport from the British Airports Authority (BAA) to solidify the company's profile among Britain’s largest airport operating firms.

According to the BAA, full payment for the Scottish airport will be made during the deal’s closing, set to take place next month.

GIP managing partner and chairman Adebayo Ogunlesi said that Edinburgh airport was a “high quality asset” for the organisation’s infrastructure investments. He said the acquisition presents a “significant opportunity” for GIP to reapply its airport operation expertise in the effort of enhancing the facility’s performance in the coming years.

The sale follows the official order by the UK Competition Commission that the BAA must sell one of its two airports in Scotland – Edinburgh and Glasgow – to further reduce its dominance among airport owners in the Britain.

Edinburgh airport remains among the 10 busiest air gateways in the; last year the facility handled some 9.3 million travellers and saw operations from about 40 different airlines.

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