Frankfurt Airport Company wins 30-year Lima airport agreement

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Flughafen Frankfurt/Main AG (FAG) --the Frankfurt Airport company--and its two consortium partners have won the privatisation bid for Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chavez airport in Peru's capital, Lima.

The deal marks a big step in  FAG's global expansion strategy. FAG and US-based construction firm Bechtel Enterprises International each hold a 42.75% stake in the privatisation consortium, while Peru's largest construction firm Cosapi holds the remaining 14.5%. 

The concession for operating and expanding Peru's international air transportation gateway runs for 30 years with an option to extend it another 10 years. The FAG consortium headed off stiff international competition from eight other bids. The FAG consortium will build a new passenger terminal and a new runway. 

Approximately 40% of the airport's passengers are leisure travelers destined for attractions in southern Peru.  An estimated 4.5m are expected to use the airport this year, rising to nearly 10m by 2010 and 16m by 2020. Currently, Lima is served by four Peruvian and nearly 25 international airlines.

Those forecasts are good news for retailing at the airport. The duty-free stores, run by Spanish operator Aldeasa, had sales of just over $1m in 1999.