Private credit takes flight: redefining airport infrastructure finance beyond equity

While private equity is well established as a method of financing airport infrastructure - and increasingly so, along with investment funds and contributions from pension funds and sovereign wealth funds - private credit is playing a greater role today.

Private credit is differentiated in a number of ways from private equity, the most significant differences being that the investor does not take an ownership position, and that there is a lower element of risk attached to it.

There are numerous reasons why private credit has gained momentum recently, and especially so where there are public-private partnerships.

Equally, there are challenges in its application.

This report looks at those reasons and associated challenges, gives examples of a wide range of scenarios where private credit has been used to finance various forms of infrastructure at airports across the world and lists some of the main organisations that provide it.