Qantas says that it currently has no plans to sell Terminal 3 at Sydney Airport, scotching speculation that MAp (formerly Macquarie Airports) was lining up to buy it.
According to a report in The Australian, the lease on Terminal 3 is up for renewal in 2014, and Qantas says it intends to exercise an option to renew it. The airline added that by retaining the site that it has greater control over how it utilises it, particularly as it refurbishes its lounges and prepares to implement its Next Generation Check-in later this year.
The speculation of an offer for Terminal 3 at Sydney started with MAp CEO Kerrie Mather who recently said that the airport investment fund would be interested in acquiring the terminal “if the opportunity arose.” In 2006 Qantas started looking at sale and leaseback transactions for the terminal, but decided against selling after it failed to receive bids for the $500 million it was expecting.
