The Australian Airports Association (AAA) has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of an extension to Tripartite Deeds for Australia’s privatised airports, which will free up plans to invest up to $9 billion in airport facility upgrades over the next 10 years.
“The extension of the tripartite deeds provides for an orderly management process in the extremely unlikely event of a default by an airport operator under the airport lease. It also ensures that lenders to privatised airports will now have the same financial security that exists for most former government assets that have moved into the private sector,” AAA executive director Caroline Wilkie said in a statement. “Without the extension of the deeds, capital would have been more difficult to obtain and the cost of financing would have increased, putting pressure on airport investment decisions. The extension of the Tripartite deeds will deliver certainty for financiers subsequently allowing airports to achieve their ambitious capital programs.”
Federal Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Anthony Albanese said that the Deeds attached to 12 Australian airports (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin, the Gold Coast, Townsville, Alice Springs, Launceston and Bankstown) would be extended to match the “full 50 year duration of the leases held by their operators.”
“With the number of passengers transiting through our major airports expected to more than double to 235 million in less than two decades, the modernisation plans of operators will be essential to making sure their facilities can cope and their services remain world class,” Albanese noted.
