Singapore's Changi Airports International has bought a
29-percent stake in Nanjing Lukou International Airport in east
China's Jiangsu Province.
The Singaporean company has paid 1.08 billion yuan (US$139.2
million) for its first airport investment in China, the world's
second largest aviation market, Chow Kok Fong, chief executive
officer of Changi Airports International, said in a statement.
The deal was "the first private-equity investment deal in a
Chinese airport by a foreign airport," said Chow.
The first direct overseas investment in a Chinese mainland civil
airport was made by the Airport Authority of Hong Kong, when
purchasing a 35-percent stake in Hangzhou Xiaoshan International
Airport last December.
Yu Cheng'an, general manager of the Nanjing Lukou International
Airport, admitted the project would be conducive to upgrades and to
the expansion of both facilities and infrastructure.
The deal would also benefit the economy of Nanjing City and the
development of Jiangsu's aviation industry, said Liang Baohua,
governor of Jiangsu Province.
The state-owned Nanjing Lukou International Airport, which
opened in 1997, now stands China's fifth largest cargo airport and
15th biggest passenger airport. It handled 6.27 million passengers
and about 160,000 tons of freight in 2006.
According to the Airports Council International (ACI) report in
2005, Changi Airport ranked sixth in the world with 30.7 million
passengers annually, and fifth in cargo capacity, handling over 1.8
million tons.
The contract is the third major airport project secured by
Changi Airports International over the past six months, after it
signed deals to manage the Abu Dhabi International Airport and the
New Terminal 1 of Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow.
(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2007)