Fraport sells Xi'an Airport stake after 16 years: 'satisfaction but disappointment'

CAPA has posed a question in recent weeks: is it time that operators of and investors in airports re-evaluate those enterprises in the light of global events? Fraport certainly did that in the case of its investment in the operator of St Petersburg Pulkovo Airport in Russia.

Now Fraport has announced that it will quit an investment in Xi'an Airport in China too, one of very few foreign ventures by anyone into the Chinese air transport industry that remain, and it has already found a local buyer.

The reasons given on this occasion relate to a perceived lack of opportunities to make more investments in the country, which is certainly the case. CAPA's analysis indicates that Xi'an is hardly a 'Question Mark' in Boston-Box terminology, let alone a 'Dog'.

At the same time, it seems implausible that worsening political relations globally had no impact on the decision.