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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
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| Cardiff airport sold to Welsh government for £52m | Cardiff airport sold to Welsh government for £52m |
| (4 months later) | |
| Cardiff airport has been sold by its debt-laden Spanish owner to the Welsh government for £52m. | Cardiff airport has been sold by its debt-laden Spanish owner to the Welsh government for £52m. |
| Abertis had been in negotiations with officials since November last year as it tried to pay down its €14.1bn debt mountain. Cardiff is the first of three UK airports it hopes to offload. | Abertis had been in negotiations with officials since November last year as it tried to pay down its €14.1bn debt mountain. Cardiff is the first of three UK airports it hopes to offload. |
| The deal will see the Welsh government manage the struggling airport at arms' length in the hope of improving passenger numbers, which have halved in the past five years to just a million. | The deal will see the Welsh government manage the struggling airport at arms' length in the hope of improving passenger numbers, which have halved in the past five years to just a million. |
| Barcelona-based Abertis, which is one of the world's largest toll-road operators, also owns Belfast airport and controls the 30-year lease at Luton airport and could sell both, after Stansted and Edinburgh airports were sold by rival Heathrow Holdings for a combined £2.3bn. Luton council, the lease owner for Luton airport, forced the company to invest £100m or risk losing its contract, in the hope of doubling passenger numbers to 18m. | Barcelona-based Abertis, which is one of the world's largest toll-road operators, also owns Belfast airport and controls the 30-year lease at Luton airport and could sell both, after Stansted and Edinburgh airports were sold by rival Heathrow Holdings for a combined £2.3bn. Luton council, the lease owner for Luton airport, forced the company to invest £100m or risk losing its contract, in the hope of doubling passenger numbers to 18m. |
| Abertis runs 29 airports around the world, but is looking at downsizing after finding itself struggling during the recession. | Abertis runs 29 airports around the world, but is looking at downsizing after finding itself struggling during the recession. |
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