KEY POINTS:
After helping spark a week of nationalistic sloganeering around the suitability of foreign ownership of our biggest airport, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise chief financial officer Hamish De Run thinks people are now moving past the emotion and will start to really study its plan to buy up Auckland International
Airport.
The $2.6 billion deal, which will mean the Dubai company owns up to 60 per cent of the airport, is likely to flush out other interested airport buyers. Public opposition to selling the airport has been strong, with Foreign Minister Winston Peters launching accusations of "economic treachery."
De Run says DAE was prepared for the kind of reaction it has received since details of its plan were released.
"It isn't a surprise," he says. "People see them [airports] as being strategically important. I think a lot of people don't necessarily understand who owned the airport last week. If you look at the register now, and the technical definition of what a foreign person is, Auckland airport actually already is a foreign-owned company."
"So I think that it's probably the people who have got quite a lot of emotion who have spoken out, but if you look through the week, a lot of the media and the commentary has been a lot more detailed, more understanding of what DAE is and what we are trying to achieve - and realising this is a very good deal for shareholders."
De Run points out that, the way the deal is structured, shareholders can get more cash from the deal if the Auckland and Manukau City Councils decide to keep their shareholdings.
DAE is stressing the huge benefits that may come from having Auckland airport as part of a global family of airports. Talking to airlines about setting up new flights to New Zealand and developing new routes will be a big benefit, and route development had been "under-utilised so far at Auckland airport".
And this does not mean just helping out the Emirates airline, which is also owned by the Dubai royal family.
"This is not, as some have reported, a Trojan horse for Emirates," says De Run.
"We're not bringing Emirates in. If there are routes that suit Emirates, great, but there'll be a lot of routes that suit Qantas, Air New Zealand."
Chinese and Indian-based airlines are also likely to be among the candidates for new services.
With the airport forecasting passenger growth of 4.5 per cent, even an additional half a per cent will bring significant benefit to NZ.
"The airport has been very successful, but it has relied heavily on airlines coming to it."
Convincing airlines to think of Auckland is no simple matter, says De Run, requiring a global presence, plus a deep understanding of overseas airlines and markets.
Should DAE take over running the airport, travellers will see some changes, says De Run, with its retail and food and beverage offerings going upmarket.
"There's probably a bit of work that needs doing with Auckland in terms of retail - especially the higher-end retail that is lacking from the airport at the moment.
"I think, more importantly, you'll find the overall ambience will improve. If you have a look at a lot of the other airports that have spent a lot of time and effort bringing in new brands, the overall ambience and the passenger experience is improved."
Any suggestion that the purchase of Auckland airport is a minor matter for the wealthy global player is put quickly to bed by De Run.
He says Auckland would be the "cornerstone investment" in the company's airport portfolio.
One veteran of the aviation industry who did not wished to be named because of his continued involvement in the sector, told the Herald on Sunday that reports of a new "aviation hub" being established in Auckland by any new owner were unlikely, and aviation hubs are dictated largely by geography and populations, neither of which worked in Auckland's favour.
What could be more likely is a new "transit point" - perhaps for Asian travellers wishing to travel to South America.
One group welcoming the Auckland airport ownership debate with open arms are those promoting the development of the Whenuapai airbase as a commercial airport.
Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey, who, with Wellington airport owner Infratil, is trying to get the West Auckland airforce base opened to commercial aviation, says he thinks the DAE bid will be successful.
"They will sell that airport and my message to Government now is give us Whenuapai now, enough is enough. Auckland now wants and needs a second airport.
"Government now has to take us and our bid really seriously."
The actual owner of the airport at Mangere is not important to the argument around developing Whenuapai, says Harvey.
"But it means that the international [airport] will be in foreign ownership. I think it will very much be a cash cow for the future. They are very good business people and they have a desire to build up a global network of money making ventures. They didn't make all that money sitting around looking at the desert. I am very respectful of the global Dubai and Arab interests. They know how to make a quid.
"It's really important that we have an airport in New Zealand ownership. You have council buy-in and overwhelming public buy-in so that it makes sense. We are going to take it to the wire, take it to this Government saying - now is the time because of factors that have come into play now."
The debate over Auckland airport ownership shows people are now thinking very carefully about the issue, says Harvey.
"It is an issue that has reached a huge level of popularity across the region. It's one of those things whose idea has arrived. The Dubai bid, which I'm sure will succeed, has focused it very clearly.
"It's focused it on Whenuapai, it's put Whenuapai - quite rightly - in the spotlight."Opening up Whenuapai as a commercial airport will be a good way of keeping any new owner of Auckland airport honest, says Harvey.
Key points of the offer
* Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIAL) will be owned by a new company to be called Auckland Airport Ltd (AAL).
* DAE will own between 51 per cent and 60 per cent of AAL, with the rest being owned by existing AIAL shareholders.
* The AAL board will have a majority of existing AIAL directors.
* AAL will be listed on both the NZSX and ASX.
* For each share, AIAL shareholders will get $2.34 cash, a tax-paid dividend of 7 cents a share and one stapled security in AAL - an ord- inary share attached to a loan note, which DAE says will be worth $1.39.
* Shareholders can elect to be paid in a different mix of cash and stapled securities. This is why the DAE ownership of the new company can be between 51 and 60 per cent.
* Key dates - August 23: AIAL's annual financial results; Early October: Shareholder documentation mailed out to shareholders; November: Shareholders' meeting.