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Changi Airports International (CAI) could well be acquiring its second equity stake in a foreign airport within just one week. As reported elsewhere in this e-newsletter (see “Changi hits all-time record” under “Airports,” above) CAI has already announced that it was buying into China's Nanjing Lukou International Airport. Now, wire reports quote Abu Dhabi officials as saying CAI may buy a stake in Abu Dhabi's airport operator when its contract to manage the airport runs out next year. CAI has confirmed in an emailed statement that the matter has been raised and the parties are currently in a very early stage of discussion. Last December, CAI beat two other competitors to win the 18-month Abu Dhabi contract. Chief executive of the state-owned Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), Khalifa al-Mazrouei, said on Tuesday that the relationship with Changi might be restructured into equity or other forms of partnership. ADAC is the company that took over from the Department of Aviation to manage all aviation and commercial operations from ground handling and catering to duty free, as the landlord of Abu Dhabi Catering & Duty Free. Last month, during Senior Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong's visit to Abu Dhabi, both sides hinted at a more long-term partnership. Abu Dhabi's economy is expanding quickly, driven by oil revenues. The Emirate is by far the UAE's biggest oil producer, controlling more than 85 percent of the UAE's total oil capacity. The Emirate is also embarking on a massive tourism industry restructuring and airport expansion program that will boost its capacity from the current 6 million to 20 million passengers per year by 2010. Source: Gulf-Africa Duty Free; BI-ME.COM |
