Holy news sections! I've received several emails from readers who've been disappointed to find that a story in the usually excellent yourfannitinnit appears to have been spiked. The item about a New Zealand pundit predicting the sale of Chas 'n' Dave Margate International Airport by Kiwi owners Infratil was on the paper's website on Tuesday. But within 24 hours it had vanished, to be replaced by the above error message. Try as I might to track it down, luck I have had none (and now from George Lucas Dialogue Disease seem to be suffering I am).Far be it for me to suggest that the paper has been 'got at' by the airport's spinmeisters. No, not me. Certainly not. Not in the current climate of legal retribution that has enveloped the Thanet blogosphere. Oh no. Oh deary me, no no no no no.
Coincidentally, Infratil have this week launched their finalised Master Plan for the airport, which downgrades passenger predictions from 2.7m to 2.2m by 2018, and from 5.7m to 4.7m by 2033. That'll only mean finding an extra 4,689,578 passengers a year, then, within the next 23 years. And, of course, the 116 page document is so dense that your averagely illiterate Thanetian ain't going to bother to plough past the pretty pictures on pages 1, 2 and 3. That includes me, I hasten to add, and a GCSE in English I have!
Click here to download C'n'DMIA Master Plan
6 comments:
Welcome to the magic of Google Cache...(link here for the moment until cache refreshes) and of course clever me.
Airport could be sold, claims business website (POSTED: 24/11/2009 11:03:15 on yourthanet.co.uk)
New Zealand company Infratil is not commenting on claims that it is looking to sell Kent International Airport.
Business website Stuff.co.nz has reported that Infratil wants to specialise in energy investments while offloading its European airports.
A piece headlined “Infratil turns its focus on energy sectors” says: “Infratil is expected to draw a line under its fraught foray into the European airport market and possibly New Zealand Bus business as it refocuses on Australasian energy sectors and lines up to buy Shell New Zealand.”
It continues: “Infratil chief executive Marko Bogoievski signalled at a half-year result last week that the company would reallocate capital with further investment in energy over the next year.”
Mr Bogoievski is quoted as saying: “The current financial markets demand a more active approach to managing the portfolio and recent transactions are more reflective of corporate finance considerations than a shift in the underlying approach to investment.”
According to Stuff.co.nz, “analysts took that to mean Infratil’s remaining European airports, Glasgow Prestwick and Kent, and possibly city bus operator New Zealand Bus are on the block for sale”.
Infratil, an infrastructure, energy and transport investment group based in Wellington, bought KIA from administrators in 2005.
It is currently seeking permission from Thanet council for night flights at the airport.
One analyst, Rob Mercer, head of research at financial services company Forsyth Barr, is reported as saying that the airports had become “a really big distraction for the market” and led to a loss of investor confidence.
Although Stuff.co.nz believes the airports might not be easy to sell in the current depressed aviation market, Mr Mercer said: “I would be surprised if they [Infratil] are still owning it over the next 12 months.”
Questioned by Yourthanet about the report, a KIA spokesman referred us to a radio report in which Mr Bogoievski says that the airport has performed well and held its valuation. He would not, however, comment further.
ECR I think you must be mellowing. You have not taken this opportunity to bait the Manstonophiles of the blogosphere.
Or are you keeping your powder dry ? Waiting for Tel the Esatate Agents "For Sale" signs to go up.
Or coud it be, fresh from your righteous outrage about a mistreated kitten, you are reluctant to kick a dog when it's down ?
Yellow brick roads (to Thanet that is) do not lead to Ruby!!!!!
Well done Adem, digging it up for us. The Web rules!
What the hell is a company headquartered in New Zealand doing owning an airport on the other side of the world in the first place, at a time when the economic climate is not favourable to air flight profitability anyway?
Of course, that was a commonsense question...silly me...
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