Athens International Airport has introduced a number of initiatives to enhance the passenger experience, including an internet island in the intra-Schengen departures area and virtual assistants.
It was announced in May that a subsidiary of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Canada (PSP Investments) had entered into a sale and purchase agreement for all shares in HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH in a €1.1 billion transaction. HOCHTIEF AirPort is one of the world’s leading airport investors and managers, with interests in six airports – Athens, Budapest, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Sydney and Tirana. It is a strong portfolio – these airports handled a combined 95 million passengers in 2012.
Budapest Airport handled 8.5 million passengers in 2012 – a strong performance in light of the Malév bankruptcy. The BUD Future modernisation programme has seen €261 million invested in the airport in recent years – the centrepiece being the new BUD SkyCourt terminal building, which opened in March 2011 and links the existing Terminals 2A and 2B.
Hamburg Airport has similarly embarked on an extensive expansion programme known as HAM 21, in which more than €350 million has been invested in extension and modernisation measures. The airport grew passenger numbers to 13.7 million in 2012. Meanwhile, Düsseldorf Airport increased throughput to 20.8 million passengers in 2012, Tirana International handled 1.7 million passengers, and Sydney Airport’s throughput rose to 36.9 million.
Long-term investor
The BUD Future modernisation programme has seen €261 million invested in the airport in recent years – the centrepiece being the BUD SkyCourt terminal building.
The sale is expected to be formally completed in the second half of 2013. “The transaction is the result of a very competitive tendering process. We will use the released funds as planned to reduce debt and to invest in the operating infrastructure business. The transaction will further strengthen HOCHTIEF’s financial and competitive position,” said Marcelino Fernández Verdes, CEO of HOCHTIEF.
Peter Sassenfeld, member of the Executive Board of HOCHTIEF, Chief Financial Officer and Labor Director of the Group, added: “HOCHTIEF AirPort is passing into the hands of a long-term and trustworthy investor which will continue to support the airports business in a responsible manner. We have, thus, also achieved our goal of offering a perspective to the employees. We are particularly happy about this.”
Commenting to Airport Business, HOCHTIEF explained that the company has decided to focus on its core business of infrastructure construction in future and, as a consequence, other business activities are being sold. HOCHTIEF commented: “On the whole, HOCHTIEF wants to realise a more rapid capital turnover in future. In addition, the assets had reached a degree of maturity in the light of which a sale to another type of shareholder was a solution that made sense. As a construction group, HOCHTIEF is traditionally focused on the construction phase and the immediately following phase of value optimisation.”
