Australia Offers 15 More Airports For Sale

The Australian government offered another 15 airport leases for sale to trade buyers on Thursday, following its A$3.3 billion (US$2.48 billion) privatisation of three major airports last month.

Following the successful sale of long-term leases for the operation of Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports, we are pleased to announce that the government is offering a further 15 federal airports for simultaneous trade sale, Finance Minister John Fahey said in a statement.

The new batch includes major airports at Adelaide, Alice Springs, Canberra, Coolangatta on Queenslands Gold Coast, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston and Townsville.

Expressions of interest in the 15 airports to be offered for sale are expected to be sought around September-October 1997, following completion of (government) due diligence and other sales preparatory work, Fahey said.

All 15 sales are expected to be completed by June 30, 1998.

But the minister said the government had decided to withhold sale of the minor airports around Sydney.

Privatisation of Sydneys major airport, at Mascot, has already been deferred until the government decides where to locate a second airport for airline traffic.

Sydney and the three sold last month as an initial batch are all larger than the 15 airports now offered for sale.

The sale of long leases on Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports brought much more than the A$1.5 billion that analysts believed the government had budgeted for.

A spokesman for Fahey said this batch would largely complete Canberras airport disposals, except for those around Sydney.