Southend airport up for sale
28.1.2008 (Financial Times)
in the search for investors to finance its £35m development as a sixth airport
for the UK capital.
developing plans for a railway station to open at the airport in 2009 and for
the runway to be extended from 1,600m to 1,800m by 2011. A new terminal would
also be built in time for the London Olympics in 2012.
of the airport as part of the Thames Gateway urban regeneration scheme to develop
the region to the east of London.
Coventry – have been bought by infrastructure and private equity funds and the
ownership of all 5 London airports has also changed in recent years.
International Group, the US insurance and financial services group, and Global
Infrasructure Partners (GIP), a joint venture between Credit Suisse and General
Electric’s GE Infrastructure fund.
of close to 700,000 a year in 1967, but its use declined with the development
of larger aircraft and restrictions on the use of its runway.
years by the possible development of a new hub airport for London beside the Thames
estuary at Cliffe on the north Kent coast, but that project was rejected by the
government in the December 2003 air transport white paper.
development of additional runways at Stansted and Heathrow airports. It suggested
that Southend airport could provide capacity for 2m passengers by 2030.
for passenger volumes to reach 2m a year by 2017.
repair and overhaul, although there are early signs of some passenger services
returning.
schedule between Southend and Jersey, but it put on hold plans to build a much
bigger presence – with both a UK domestic and continental European network – until
the runway was extended to allow its Embraer 195 jets to operate with full passenger
payloads.
service between Essex and Cologne from Stansted to Southend to take advantage
of the absence of airspace and landing slot congestion.
a private company owned by Andrew Walters.
decided to seek an investor experienced in developing infrastructure projects
to take over a majority stake or full ownership of the airport, which it is valuing
at around £50m.
plans to provide a direct rail link. A station is due to be opened on the main
line between Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street, which runs beside
the airport, in August 2009.
Street and to the Canary Wharf financial district in Londons docklands at Stratford.
The journey times from London Liverpool Street to Southend and Stansted airports
would be similar at around 45 minutes.