Australian owners sell 50 percent stake in Bristol Airport for £250 million

The  Australian owner of Bristol Airport has sold its stake in the hugely successful business for an estimated £250 million.

The investment firm Macquarie announced this morning it has sold its 50 percent share holding in the Airport to a Canadian company.

The sale means that the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, known as Teachers, is now the sole owner of the airport.

And the deal has taken place at a time when the airport is enjoying record success and is breaking records each month in terms of passenger numbers.

Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets has owned Bristol Airport since 2001.

Over that period the airport’s network has grown year on year to reach 107 destinations served by 13 airlines this summer.

As a result, passenger numbers have grown on average by seven percent per year. The total hit the six million last year making Bristol one of the fastest growing airports in the UK and the main gateway to the South-West of England.

The growth has come at a time when other regional rivals such as Cardiff have struggled and seen large falls in passenger numbers.

The Canadian firm bought into the airport in 2008 and has worked in concert with Macquarie on development and increasing passenger numbers.

As a result Bristol is now the ninth largest airport and there are plans in place to increase in size to 10 million passengers per year.

“We are very proud of the strong development of Bristol Airport under the ownership of our funds,” said Edward Beckley from Macquarie.

“In 2001 the airport was handling 2.7 million passengers and today it is the primary airport in the region, with great potential for further growth.”

"Teachers’ looks forward to continuing our relationships with all stakeholders at Bristol Airport and supporting its further development. We will work to build on the success we have achieved in our partnership with MEIF during the past eight years," said Andrew Claerhout, Senior Vice-President of Teachers’ Infrastructure Group.

Robert Sinclair, chief executive at Bristol Airport, said: “Macquarie’s long association with Bristol Airport was a period of unparalleled passenger growth and development which saw it become one of UK’s leading regional airports.

“Macquarie and Teachers’ have been instrumental in supporting the expansion of the Airport’s route network and significantly enhanced facilities for passengers. We look forward to working with Teachers’ to continue investing in the Airport for the benefit of the region we serve.”

August was the busiest month in the airport’s history, when more than 700,000 passengers passed through the terminal.

And the airport has big plans for the future, with a £120 million expansion on the cards and talks taking place to bring transatlantic flights back to the South West.

The airport was badly hit by the recession, but it still fared much better than many other of its regional rivals.

Cardiff Airport was taken over by the Welsh Regional Assembly after many of the major carriers pulled out of South Wales.

Meanwhile, in Bristol, passenger numbers for the past 12 months reached 6.23 million, passing the record total for a calendar year, which was recorded in 2008, just before the recession.

Read more at http://www.bristolpost.co.uk