KEY POINTS:
The threat of global warming taxes on air travel within Europe is a now a real possibility but the boss of Infratil Airports Europe doesn't believe it can curb growth in the fast-moving sector.
NZX-listed Infratil owns three European airports representing about 10 per cent of its total infrastructure investments. Chief executive Stephen Fitzgerald said they were yet to deliver profits but with airfreight volumes expected to double by 2010 they were well positioned to cash in.
Fitzgerald, in New Zealand last week to outline progress to the market, is based at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow and oversees airports at Lubeck in northern Germany, and Kent, southeast of London.
Even a trebling of fuel costs in the past year hadn't had any significant impact on growth in air traffic so it seemed unlikely carbon taxes would slow growth, he said.
In October the third-tier London City Airport was sold for an estimated £750 million ($2 billion), a price tag which shocked commentators.
By comparison Infratil bought Kent International Airport from administrators for about £18 million ($46.4 million) in late August last year.
While its value may have grown it would not be in the ballpark of London City, which was located closer to the centre of London. But there was potential to develop Kent as a passenger airport, Fitzgerald said.
It is approximately an hour and three-quarters away from the centre of London but has about 1.5 million people living within one hour's commute. At present it has just three charter services carrying but the company was in discussions with airlines.
The risks were around the kind of intensive marketing that is needed to promote a new airport, and costs would have to be shared between the airport and the airline.
In Britain the market for low-cost airlines was relatively new but it was growing rapidly in Europe.
Of the three airports, Lubeck is in the best position to expand passenger services dramatically in the next few years. It has 4.5 million people living less than an hour away but it faces the challenge of overcoming political opposition to budget airlines.
Prestwick is the most well established. It dates back to the 1940s when it was at one point the number one British exit point for the United States.
