Yesterday, VINCI Airports signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Gatwick Airport Limited, the parent company of London Gatwick Airport (LGW). The new agreement grants VINCI Airports, as a subsidiary of French company VINCI Concessions, 50.01 percent from current shareholders, leaving the other 49.99 percent to be managed by U.S.-based Global Infrastructure Partners. The final transaction for the agreement will be completed in the first half of 2019, and is estimated at £2.6 billion, subject to closing adjustments.
After London Heathrow Airport (LHR), LGW is the largest cargo airport in the United Kingdom, reporting 102,000 tonnes of cargo moved in 2017 for a 24 percent increase over the year prior. In its “2018 Draft Master Plan,” the airport attributes this growth to the resurgence of its long-haul services and says that 63 percent of its cargo throughput is outbound.
Also in its master plan, LGW proposes adding expanding operations to its existing standby runway, in addition to continued use of its current runway. The airport reported that with continued use of its single runway, it anticipates total cargo tonnage to increase to around 220,000 tonnes by 2032, whereas the additional use of its standby runway increases the projected cargo forecast to around 325,000 tonnes on the same timeline.
VINCI Airports said in its press release that LGW’s growth potential fits well with its “long-term investment horizon,” and that it will support and encourage the development of traffic, operational efficiency and commercial activities there. The company currently operates airports in Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, France, Japan and Portugal, but also said that it plans to develop LGW into the largest airport in its global network.