London City Airport up for sale at $3.1bn

Local media reported on Thursday that the City Airport, which serves London’s financial district, has been put up for sale and expected to fetch up to 3.1 billion dollars.

The report said US-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which owns 75 per cent of the airport, has hired advisers to sell it before the end of 2015.

Michael McGhee, GIP’s director of transport, said the market demand for quality airports was very high.

He said Oaktree Capital, which owned the remaining 25 per cent of the airport, has also agreed to the sale.

McGhee said the passenger numbers at the airport doubled from 2 million in 2005 to an expected 4.1 million in 2015.

He said his office bought the airport for about 750 million pounds in 2006 from Irish financier, Dermot Desmond.