Ryanair seeks 25% stake in Stansted Airport

[sn26567]

Ryanair is keen to take a 25 percent equity stake in London’s Stansted airport by participating in one of a number of groups that may bid for the BAA asset.

Ryanair, Stansted’s biggest customer, is prepared to make “a modest commitment” as “anchor tenant” at the airport and has been examining proposals from five or six groups, from which one or two serious bids are likely to emerge.

Britain’s fourth-busiest airport moved closer to an auction last week when the Court of Appeal in London dismissed BAA’s appeal against a sale ordered by the U.K. Competition Commission.

South Korea’s Incheon International Airport may be among bidders for Stansted. It could face competition from Manchester Airports Group, owner of Britain’s busiest airport outside London, which has been seeking outside investment to fund purchases.

Bid groups would welcome Ryanair because its involvement would bring security and a guarantee of future airport growth.

More from Bloomberg: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-0 ... -bid-group

[regi]

Would such a vertical integration not raise eyebrows at the EU anti trust committee?

[airazurxtror]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012 ... sfeed=true

Ryanair has held discussions over taking a 25% stake in the Essex airport, which has a price tag of more than £1bn. The current owner, BAA, announced on Monday that it is ending a protracted legal battle to prevent the sale of Stansted, which had been ordered by the Competition Commission in 2009 but had been hotly contested by BAA.
Last month Howard Millar, Ryanair's deputy chief executive, said the airline has been approached by potential buyers with the view to joining a consortium bid. He said: "We have met these consortia and they want us to be an anchor tenant."
Ryanair has long campaigned to have airports remade in its low-cost image, and has cited Stansted as an example of the "Taj Mahal" facilities that are out-of-kilter with the low-cost model that now dominates the European short-haul market.
A Ryanair-owned airport would emphasise low cost and quick turnarounds, so the airline will speed up the journey from check-in to security and the departure gate if it can. "We want as small and efficient a facility as possible," said a Ryanair spokesman.
"The future for short-haul airlines in Europe is walk-on and walk-off services," said the spokesman.

[sn26567]

It is contradictory for Ryanair to run a low-cost airline, trying to squeeze airport operators to have costs as low as possible, and at the same time to become an airport operator itself and thus trying to maximise profits from that airport.

I wonder how Michael O'Leary will solve that equation...

[OO-JFP]

Quite easely: increase the discount for the "main operator(s)" and increase the fees for the other ones.
Twice a winner...

OO-JFP