Kent airport bought for £17m
25.08.05
Kent International Airport, which went into administration last month after the collapse of its parent company PlaneStation and sister company EUjet, has been bought for £17m. The new owners, Infratil, an existing airport operator, has said the airport at Manston has strong prospects for freight and low-cost regional passenger services. The company is due to complete the purchase tomorrow.
Infratil chairman David Newman said: 'We believe [Kent airport] has strong prospects as a freight airport servicing the south of England. It is also well situated to provide regional airline passenger services to Kent and the eastern side of the London conurbation, with 1.9m people within a 60-minute drive.'
Newman said the operation would fit in with Infratil's existing European airport, Glasgow Prestwick, and would be managed by the company's European team. 'Both airports are set up to service the fastest-growing air transport segments - low cost airlines and air freight,' he said.
The company's Europe chief executive Steven Fitzgerald said the first services to be reinstated would be freight operations while passenger operations would take longer. He said capital expenditure would be about £9m in the first three years with operating losses of between £8m and £10m.
'Our business case recognises it will take some time to bring Kent International Airport [KIA] to profitable operation as there are no existing services. We expect KIA to be a strong outbound market to the popular tourist destinations in Spain, Italy and France,' Fitzgerald said.
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