Macquarie Airports and state-owned Aer Rianta (the Dublin Airport Authority), are considering a joint sale of their 48.25% shareholding, the Sydney-based company said in a statement. "Any decision to proceed with a divestment of the combined interest will be dependent upon the quality of the offers that might be received."
BHX is jointly owned by the seven West Midlands' District Councils 49%; Aer Rianta 24.125%; Macquarie Airports Group 24.125%. The remaining 2.75% takes the form of an Employee Share Trust.
In a statement of its own Birmingham International Airport (BIA) today paid tribute to the significant development of the Airport since Aer Rianta International obtained a shareholding in 1997 and Macquarie Airports Group became an investor in 2002.
”Under the current public/private partnership shareholding arrangements, Birmingham International Airport has grown and developed in stature tremendously over the last 10 years. The airport now directly supports some 11,000 jobs and directly contributes over ”200m ($393m) per annum to the Midlands economy. Beyond those direct impacts, our role in providing the international connectivity to support other businesses, inward investment and regeneration is even more significant. All that has been achieved in a sustainable manner, with some of the strictest environmental policies of any airport in the UK.
”The airport company looks forward to the development of new shareholding arrangements with the active involvement of the District Councils, but otherwise, it is very much ”business as usual” as the company remains committed to providing the outstanding international airport and network of international connections that the region wants and deserves.”
The last published figure for the airport is a throughput of 9.4m passengers in 2005. The 2006 figures have not been disclosed but could actually show a slight fall, mainly due to competition from the new Coventry Airport scheduled operations.