Akl Council uses $83m airport payout to cut debt

A $83.9m capital return from Auckland International Airport will be used by the Auckland Council to pay down debt. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Auckland Council has voted to use a special dividend of $83.9 million from Auckland Airport to pay down debt.

The council received the dividend as a 22.4 per cent shareholder in the airport.

The council voted unanimously this morning to use the windfall to repay debt.

Mayor Len Brown said it was appropriate and prudent to repay debt.

Councillor Dick Quax said one of the first things "we teach our children when it comes to debt and if you get a windfall when your grandmother dies the first thing you do is pay off debt".

The council received $101.5 million as a result of a capital return from the airport, but that included a budgeted $17.6 million interim dividend, leaving an unbudgeted cash surplus of $83.9 million.

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