St Louis Airport privatisation: attracting investors - & opposition

Apart from PPP deals to build and manage terminals, airport privatisation - which must occur by lease in the U.S. - has dwindled there since the conclusion of the San Juan International Airport lease process in 2013.

For that reason, the continuing process to do the same to the St Louis Lambert Airport in Missouri is being watched carefully, both within the U.S. and internationally.

It is a complex procedure, though, which is attracting prospective investors who may be as interested in unused land there as the airport itself, and at the same time creating growing public opposition. While it has often been said that "much rests on this transaction" in the U.S., that is the case here, in the light of the recent re-evaluation of the original Airport Privatisation Pilot Programme, which has been in existence since 1996.