French operator Vinci is eyeing opportunities to extend the commercial footprint at London Gatwick Airport (LGW) after taking a majority shareholding in one of the globe’s busiest single runway airports.

Vinci Airports, a subsidiary of Vinci Concessions, signed an agreement this week (27 December) with shareholders to acquire a 50.01% stake in Gatwick Airport Limited valued at approximately £2.9bn ($3.7bn).

Owner Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which bought the UK’s second largest airport in 2009 in a consortium-led buyout, retains a 49.99% stake.

The transaction expects to complete by the end of Q2 2019.

FURTHER INVESTMENT EXPECTED

In a statement, Vinci says the transaction knits ‘extremely well’ with its long-term investment horizons owing to the airport’s ‘extremely valuable’ freehold ownership structure, potential to increase capacity and extend commercial opportunities to passengers.

Vinci, which acts as a concession holder and operator at 46 airports in 12 countries and handled 180m pax aross its network in 2017 stated: “The transaction represents a rare opportunity to acquire an airport of such size and quality.

“Gatwick Airport is an outstanding asset with further growth potential. This acquisition represents a major strategic move by Vinci Airports into a strongly performing airport located in a globally significant aviation market. Gatwick will become the largest single airport in Vinci Airports’ growing worldwide network.”

Commenting on the deal, Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of Vinci Concessions and President of Vinci Airports added: “The whole Vinci Airports network will benefit from Gatwick Airport’s world-class management and operational excellence, which has allowed it to deliver strong and steady growth in a very constrained environment.

“As Gatwick’s new industrial partner, Vinci Airports will support and encourage growth of traffic, operational efficiency and leverage its international expertise in the development of commercial activities to further improve passenger satisfaction and experience.”

WELCOME DISTRACTION

LGW handles nearly 46m pax annually to more than 228 destinations in 74 countries.

Chairman Sir David Higgins, CEO Stewart Wingate and the management team will remain in their posts as LGW confirms there will be no immediate changes to the airport’s operation.

“This is good news for the airport as it will mean both continuity but also further investment for passengers over the coming years to improve our services,” said Wingate.

News of the Vinci acquisition follows a week of turbulence for LGW as multiple drone sightings grounded flights and affected Christmas travel plans for more than 100,000 passengers.

Flights began on a limited basis on 21 December with LGW confirming a return to its full flight schedule on 24 December.

The perpetrators responsible for shutting down the airport have yet to be brought to justice at the time this report went to press, with airport officials offering a £50,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.     

“Now we are through the recent disruption at the airport and services are fully back to normal I would once again like to express my thanks to passengers for their patience during this challenging period,” added Wingate.

“I would also like to thank all those who have supported my teams in getting Gatwick back up and running, particularly our airlines, the police, the armed forces, other airports, the CAA and the Department for Transport.

“While [the Vinci] announcement marks an exciting moment in Gatwick’s future, my team and I remain focused on doing everything we can to help ensure that travel runs as smoothly as possible for everyone over the rest of the festive period.”