Airport operator privatisation

30 November 2004

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

France's transport minister, Gilles de Robien, presented a bill last week to transform AÃ©roports de Paris (ADP) into a public limited company, paving the way for a partial privatisation of the Paris airport operator. The current legal status of ADP dates from 1945 and does not allow for increasing capital needed for its investments which are now over EUR 600m per year. De Robien also reaffirmed that only part of ADP would be sold to the public and the state would retain a majority stake. ADP manages all the civil airports and airfields within a 50 km radius of Paris The bill includes a section about the management of major regional airports, which also will be turned into companies whose capital can be opened to public or private partners. The big regional airports are now run by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "The process has begun," French government spokesman Jean-Francois CopÃ© said of the cabinet meeting. "Consultation already has been going on for a long time. It comes just in time to respond to international competition and the modernisation of our public services." The bill calls for the transfer of ownership of all Paris airport assets to ADP. The government and ADP's chairman also are committed to protecting ADP's 8,100 employees. However, unions were not entirely satisfied with the proposals and the Force OuvriÃ¨re (FO) has called for industrial action. They fear total privatisation. The bill's text is due to be submitted to parliament by the end of the year which would allow the reforms to be put in place at the beginning of 2005.