Trump targets Washington Dulles: Big promises, bigger balance sheets required

The US president Donald Trump likes good news (especially if it involves him).

And there's nothing more likely to win him kudos on the streets of Washington D.C., where he isn't particularly popular with the local residents, than fixing the US capital's main international airport, Dulles, which has numerous problems that need attention.

The president has ordered the Department of Transportation to submit an RFI for proposals and public-private partnership (P3) plans from developers, architects and engineers to construct new terminals and concourses at Washington Dulles International Airport.A

He, and it, specifically seek private sector co-operation on these matters through P3s, as they have been the most effective method of building new airport infrastructure in recent years. Airport privatisation by lease has gone off the boil, perhaps never to rekindle. (During the president's first term he set out to privatise the two Washington airports - but that fell flat).

The question is, to what extent will the private sector come on board; and if so, who exactly?

Although there are highly capable US companies in this field, the greatest experience of providing privatised infrastructure in this sector is to be found elsewhere, and there are almost certain to be foreign companies that were queuing up for the St Louis Lambert Airport lease in 2018 that will see another opportunity begging.

This report considers the current status of Dulles, its future traffic forecasts, its charging regime, the quality of existing infrastructure, and which organisations might be tempted to come on board.