Coventry International Airport has been sold in a multimillion-pound deal, officials said today.
The Warwickshire airport has now been bought by CAFCO-C, a partnership between American Convergence-AFCO, an airport management firm and Irish-based developer Howard Holdings.
Airport bosses revealed the deal was signed by CAFCO for an undisclosed fee, just two years after holiday company Thomson bought the airport to run its low cost airline Thomsonfly – that flies to 87 European destinations.
They say the agreement will pave the way for the future expansion of the airport that is next week due to embark on a planning inquiry for a new terminal.
The plans include providing facilities to deal with 2 million passengers a year.
Bill Savage, airport chairman, said the new owners fully backed the plans for the new terminal.
But passengers would see no immediate affect of the day-to-day running of the airport, he said.
There are currently 1,200 staff and that number was expected to grow to 2,200 with the new terminal.
Peter Rothwell, managing director of TUI UK, the holding company for Thomson, said:
“Today’s announcement is great news. It was not in our business plan to purchase an airport however it was necessary to take ownership in order to ensure successful operation of our low fares flights with Thomsonfly.com,” he said.
Leader of Coventry City Council, Ken Taylor, said:
“This is good news for Coventry and the region as it shows massive commitment to the city’s future.
“The new owners have made it clear that they see Coventry as their gateway to Europe and there are potentially huge benefits for us all in terms of economic growth and prosperity.
“Around 1.2 million passengers have used the airport over the past two years and I’m delighted that TUI has been able to make such a success of the airport and so attracting this major long term investment,” he said.
References: EGi News 05/01/06
