Shoreham Airport for sale
Ive posted the same thing on Airline,Airports and Routes Forum, but I think that the post is just as relavant on here, so I'd be grateful if the mod's would allow it to stay put, and possibly consider giving it sticky status if appropriate.
Shoreham Airport is advertised for sale in this weeks Flight International Magazine.
The advert states that the airport produces a tenanted income of c. £840K, which plus landing fees, I suspect is insufficiant to cover the costs of the airport as it runs at the moment.
Correct me if I am wrong, but i suspect that the joint owners (Brighton & Hove City, and Worthing Borough Council) chip in the rest using rate payers money, and are now under pressure to put that cash to "better use".
I've no idea how much the 97ha (240acres) of airport would cost on the open market, but I cannot see that anyone other than an investment banker (asset stripper) would have the cash to buy the airport, sit on the investment and keep it running as it does at present, and in the medium to long term, sell parcels of land off for more profitable (non avaition) uses.
Any other buyer would have to look to either,
1 - Carry out immediate development to raise the revenue income, (although the advert states that there is "potential for development" it doesn't mention the vociferous anti airport lobby who have the ear of the planning authority in the area).
Or,
2 - Buy the place as it is, and look to cut costs at every conceivable angle.
Either way, the airport and it's many users would suffer, and IMHO it wouldn't be long before it was a building site.