Greece hires advisers for Athens airport sale

Eurocontrol data show the continued recovery of Greek air transport, as local airports had 7.7% more flights last month than a year earlier, led by Athens Airport, and by Aegean Airlines, which has the lion's share in the Greek market. The capital's Eleftherios Venizelos Airport is one of 40 European airports that last month posted an increase in flight activity compared to the same month in 2019: It hosted 8,484 flights, up by 0.5% from three years earlier, although in the first 10 months of the year it lagged the 2019 figure by 6.2%, serving 184,495 flights in total. In October Athens Airport served 2.29 million passengers, down 0.5% on 2019.

Greece has hired Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank to act as advisers on its planned listing of a 30% stake in Athens airport, two officials close to the matter said on Monday.

Athens said last year it was considering listing a 30% stake in its biggest airport after an ownership review. Germany-based manager AviAlliance holds a 40% stake in the airport.

Greece's privatisation agency, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), aims for the initial public offering to take place in the first half of the year, said a HRADF official who declined to be named.

The 30% stake could be valued between 800 million and 1 billion euros ($868.5 million and $1.09 billion), the official said, adding that state-owned HRADF has come to a tentative agreement to sell a 10% stake of its total shareholding to AviAlliance.

[Reuters]

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