Growing pains: European airports emerge from the recession

A year ago, Standard and Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) anticipated the market would decline in 2009 and that airports would show a diverse degree of resilience. This has proven to be the case. In the next year, improving passenger volumes will have a steadying effect on credit quality but, while mid-term prospects for EU airports are stable, the long-term is unclear. Air traffic is likely to be more or less flat for EU airports in 2010, with a modest rise in 2011. As a result, the return to growth may be a slow and protracted one rather than a bounce back to 2007 levels.