Airport News - Asia / Pacific.

Dec 10, 2007

Airport Authority Hong Kong

Airport Authority Hong Kong is in talks to buy a stake in Bao'an Airport in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, the authority's chairman said on Monday Dec. 3. He added that Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, which is 35 percent owned by the authority, is considering a stock market listing, preferably in Hong Kong, to fund expansion. The authority, a statutory body wholly owned by the Government of Hong Kong, has been talking with Shenzhen for more than five years on hopes of gaining a foothold in the mainland's aviation network through an investment in the airport, Chairman Victor Fung said. Hong Kong is seeking cooperation with the mainland amid competition from southern China as it tries to remain the Asia-Pacific hub for both cargo and passenger traffic. Dec 3, 2007

Auckland International

New Zealand's Auckland International Airport said on Thursday Dec. 6 the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) had proposed changes to a part of its NZD$1.8 billion (USD$1.4 billion) partial takeover plan. CPPIB is looking to buy 40 percent of Auckland Airport, New Zealand's main international gateway and, if successful, plans to put to a shareholder vote a capital restructuring plan that replaces the airport's existing shares. The airport operator said on Thursday that CPPIB had changed the capital restructuring plan, reducing the number of convertible notes it will offer by 18 percent to NZD$3.4 billion and increasing the number of ordinary shares six-fold to NZD$862 million. Auckland Airport said in a statement all other terms of the proposed deal remained the same. No reasons for the change were given. The CPPIB, a state pension fund, has offered NZD$3.6555 a share in cash for the 40 percent stake. Its approach has prompted the airport's board to seek alternative bids. Dec 6, 2007

Auckland International

Shares in Auckland Airport, a top-10 company, last traded up 2 cents at NZD$2.81, after trading between NZD$2.12 and NZD$3.5 over the past 12 months. Analysts have widely tipped the CPPIB bid to fail, saying its plan poses a big risk for the company because it involves tripling debt to NDZ$2.6 billion. Auckland Airport carries more than 70 percent of New Zealand's international traffic, and has recently seen its chairman resign and three new board members appointed, after shareholder discontent over how the company has handled recent takeover approaches. In September state-backed Dubai Aerospace Enterprise withdrew a bid for a 51-60 percent stake at the equivalent of NZD$3.80 a share, saying the board had not done enough to promote the deal. The airport's sale is politically sensitive, with opponents arguing it would lead to foreign control of a strategic asset. About 30 percent of Auckland Airport's shares are owned by two local city councils. The two, along with other shareholders New Zealand's state pension fund and utilities investor Infratil, have all indicated they are not keen to sell. Dec 6, 2007

Miascor Catering

Miascor Catering, a joint venture in the Philippines between Gate Gourmet, Citadel Holding and Malaysia Airlines, recently broke ground for a new catering facility at Diosdado Macapagal International, also known as Clark International. First phase is to feature a 1,000-sq.-m. building designed for 1,200 meals daily, allowing for expansion to 5,000 meals per day. Scheduled to open in June 2008, the new kitchen will occupy 3,000 sq. m. of land. Dec 5, 2007

Xi'an Xianyang Airport

By 2020, China's Xi'an Xianyang International Airport could handle 26 million passengers and 360,000 tonnes of cargo annually, CAAC said. Airports around China are rushing to expand their capacity to cater to growing demand from an increasingly mobile population as the country's economy grows at about 10 percent a year. Earlier in the year, Fraport agreed to take 24.5 percent of Xi'an airport for EUR50 million euros (USD$72.97 million), marking its first equity investment in a major Chinese airport. The German airport operator reached a preliminary agreement in 2005 to buy a quarter of Ningbo Lishe Airport in the eastern port city of Ningbo. Dec 7, 2007

Xi'an Xianyang Airport, Fraport

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, in which German airport operator Fraport has agreed to take a stake, has launched a CNY7.29 billion yuan (USD$984.3 million) expansion project amid rising air traffic. The project, including the construction of a second runway and a third terminal, is scheduled to be completed by 2020, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said in a statement. China's Xi'an Xianyang airport, the country's ninth-busiest airport and a major hub in the northwestern province of Shaanxi -- where the Terra Cotta Warriors are located -- accommodated 9.37 million passengers in 2006, up 18 percent from 2005, official data showed. Cargo volume rose 19 percent to 99,434 tons. Dec 7, 2007

ZZ

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