Scotland's busiest airport – Edinburgh, could soon be under new ownership after New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) hired HSBC and JP Morgan banks to run an auction for its sale.
The sale is expected to take place in the next six months, with the airport said to be valued in the region of £2.5bn. GIP purchased the facility in 2012 from the British Airports Authority (BAA) for £807.2m.
Edinburgh Airport has recently undergone £40m worth of renovation projects that have seen upgrades to its terminal, including new retail and catering facilities and the installation of new security scanners to coincide with the relaxation of the 100ml liquid rule for hand luggage.
Currently, almost 40 airlines serve the gateway, offering flights to over 150 destinations worldwide. Pre-pandemic, the airport handled over 14 million passengers annually. It has since returned to around 93% of pre-pandemic traffic.
Meanwhile, the facility – the sixth busiest in the UK – hit the headlines in January after a ‘pothole’ was discovered on the runway, forcing flights to be delayed. A spokesperson for the airport told the press: “Arrivals and departures were suspended for a short time as teams carried out repairs to a small breakup within the airfield. Safety is always our priority, and work has now been completed, and all operations have resumed. We thank passengers for their patience.”
