Historically 4 million passengers would have been a recipe for good profits at an airport. But that was before the new generation of airport owners started to give away airport capacity for peanuts, eager to gain first mover advantage in attracting low-cost carriers. The chickens are now coming home to roost, whether at Liverpool, Prestwick, Cardiff, Doncaster or wherever. And the situation has not been helped by ever-increasing security-related costs etc, which airports have found it difficult to pass onto customers, further squeezing profits. A vicious circle, I'm afraid. And in the case of Liverpool, it's difficult to see the same "tooth fairy" saviour as has happened with the taxpayer picking up the tab for future losses at Cardiff and Prestwick.
Even so, Liverpool is in a better position than those other airports. At least it makes a profit before debt service, which is not the case at the other sick airports. The problem is that Liverpool's shareholders borrowed a lot of money when times were good and the banks were feeling generous (or foolhardy). Now times are less good and the banks are less generous. Somehow the airport has to repay/refinance its bank debt. At other airports (eg Bristol) this has involved shareholders putting their hands in their pockets. But are Liverpool's newer shareholders in a position to do this? If not, a chunk of the airport could end up being owned by the banks....
Last edited by BasilBush; 11th Jan 2014 at 08:13.