Yes ABA, a potentially interesting year ahead.
My main hope for the airport is that the HAH Board do agree in Q1 2014 to sell the airport given the apparent level of interest. Out of the three (ABZ, GLA, SOU) it is thought we are the ones with potential best value.
It's way back deep in the thread, but I always go back to the post that showed BAA historically put back very little that it took out of ABZ, thus we were starved of investment over many years. Things that are being done now perhaps should have been several years ago, & even now they are reacting to events, not being proactive as perhaps they should have been when it comes to the infra.
Why only part of the runway extension? More (especially international) stands? More remote aircraft parking? Why - despite being told again & again - only one baggage carousel? Only now are they aware they needed to expand the facilities?
Right now the airport is - being generous - barely adequate for current & forecast levels. At worst, it is breaking at the seams. Will the cosmetics being planned now really make a difference?
It seems to be GIP v Ferrovial v one or two others if HAH sell.
Having seen what they have done vis a vis Edinburgh, I ,like ABA, would prefer GIP, but that's just personal preference. I am not particularly enamoured with Ferrovial & the debt taken on board when they took an interest in BAA.
I'm not expecting an Edinburgh-style explosion of airlines & routes here, but I DO think GIP if it was them would have a more pro-active approach on the face of it.
BAA/HAH were forever saying they continued to talk to airlines - perhaps a change of owner will help persuade airlines that the strength of the local economy is worth investing in - & that they would no longer be talking to BAA/HAH.
Not every route will or does work of course, but that applies up & down to all airports in the UK throughout the midst of time. Routes come, are tried, & some go. But you'd like to think that being lucky enough to be in a continually strong area for industry would count for something.
Anyway - whoever acquires it if indeed it is up for acquiral - I hope some aggressive investment & route development follow. Sadly, at the moment, I get the impression of the MD sitting in her office hamstrung by being owned by the remnants of the BAA - but continuing 'to talk to airline partners'. It's a well-worn phrase now - too much talk but not enough action, perhaps.
And of course - if they sell, how LONG would it take to actually divest the airport from HAH ownership, especially if there is a bidding war?
We shall see.