Changi Airport Managers and Partners (Singapore), the investment arm of the city-state's aviation body, may invest in Lukou Airport in China as it expands operations overseas to benefit from rising travel demand.
Changi will buy as much as 45 percent of Lukou Airport in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, for about 1 billion yuan (US$121 million), China Business News said yesterday, citing Lukou Airport Deputy General Manager Zhang Youfu. An agreement will be signed this year, the Shanghai-based newspaper said.
The investment arm "has been in contact with Lukou Airport in Nanjing," the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said yesterday in an emailed response to queries. "As talks are still in progress and as we are conducting due diligence, it is premature for us to comment on the details."
Singapore and Hong Kong aviation authorities are seeking to invest overseas to expand their sources of income and tap a demand for travel in the region, boosted in part by China mainland's economic growth and emergence of budget carriers.
The CAAS, which runs Changi Airport, Asia's sixth-busiest, has stakes in the Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica, the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Peru and London Luton Airport, its Website said. It is also bidding for stakes in Mumbai and New Delhi airports, India's two largest.
The CAAS is a statutory body that also represents the government in negotiations for air services agreements. Last year, Changi Airport handled a record 30.4 million passengers.
The Hong Kong Airport Authority, which runs Asia's third-busiest air terminal, said on April 15 it would invest in an airport outside the Special Administrative Region for the first time.
The government-owned authority said it would pay 1.99 billion yuan for 35 percent of Xiaoshan International Airport Co, which operates Hangzhou's air terminal in Zhejiang Province.