Vinci Airports, the French operator, has acquired a 50.01% majority stake in Gatwick Airport for £2.9bn, with current owner Global Infrastructure Partners retaining the remaining 49.99%. The deal makes Gatwick the largest airport in Vinci's network, which now spans 46 airports across 12 countries, handling around 228 million passengers annually.
Gatwick, the UK's second-busiest airport, serves over 45 million passengers each year, flying to 230 destinations in 70 countries. The airport faced significant disruption before Christmas due to drone sightings, grounding flights and affecting about 140,000 passengers over three days. Vinci's president, Nicolas Notebaert, expressed confidence in the current management and pledged to enhance resilience against such risks.
The acquisition follows Vinci's earlier takeover of Airports Worldwide's portfolio, which included Belfast International and stakes in US airports. Gatwick's expansion plans suffered a setback in 2016 when the government rejected its proposal for a second runway while approving Heathrow's third runway. However, the airport has a 'masterplan' to bring an emergency standby runway into daily use, a move that could boost capacity but is likely to be controversial.
Global Infrastructure Partners expects the transaction to be completed by mid-next year, with Gatwick's executive team, including chief executive Stewart Wingate, remaining unchanged.
