Does the sale of Cardiff Airport signal a return of UK airports to the public sector? - Part 2

Part 1 of this report described how the Welsh Government purchased Cardiff Airport from Abertis/AENA (TBI) for a total investment of GBP52 million and the sale of Glasgow Prestwick Airport to TS Prestwick Holdco Limited, an entity wholly owned by the Scottish Ministers. It raised the issue of whether other smaller UK airports might now be re-nationalised following their example.

Some are certainly in the frame, though there is less likelihood of this happening in England, where there are no regional governments, unlike Wales and Scotland.

Despite the moves at Cardiff and Prestwick, the English mentality on regionalism is probably not so strong as in Wales and Scotland. In England a more national overview tends to be taken, even in regions such as Tyneside and Cornwall, where there are quite strong regional tendencies (and even a separatist movement in Cornwall).

In Part 2 of this report on UK airports, we focus on the English airports and look at where others like Peel Airports and MAG may be headed.