The tender for the privatization of Saint Exupery airport in Lyon will be launched in October or November with a decision in 2016
The tender for the privatization of Saint Exupery airport in Lyon will be launched in October or November with a decision to be decided in 2016.
The Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron met yesterday, Monday with the minority shareholders of the airport, before starting the privatization process, with the State wishing to transfer its shares. The state currently owns 60% stake in the third largest airport in France, along with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) in Lyon (25%) and local authorities (15%).
The local business community is very attentive to this privatization which he expects to be accompanied by an international development therefore, while the airport of the second economic region in France stands at 47th place among European airports.
“Communities will be involved in the drafting of specifications,” reported AFP the president of Rhône-Alpes Jean-Jack Queyranne (PS) at the end of the meeting at Bercy. “We really emphasized this point and called for safeguards to ensure that the operation is not just financial,” he added.
According to the minister’s office contacted by AFP, a schedule was also asked: a priori writing specifications in September and tender launched in October. The conclusion of the sale is expected to close in the first half of 2016.
“We will be very attentive to the interests of the territory”, it ensured to the minister.
For its part, the ICC and the city of Lyon were keen to recall in a statement “the need to respond positively to the needs of companies who wish to open air links from Lyon” without concrete answer yet from the government.
Many takeover candidates are already in the running according to Jean-Jack Queyranne: Aéroports de Paris (ADP), Vinci, the Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) and foreign investors.
In June, the nearby airport of Geneva had also expressed interest, ensuring that it would bid in a consortium of investors. This option is the preferred track of local actors who believe that both airports have a good complementarity.
The Lyon airport transports 8.5 million passengers a year when those of Paris in carry 90 million passengers and Nice 11.5 million.