US academic study suggests that airports are managed best by infrastructure funds

CAPA - Centre for Aviation has consistently supported the concept of the privatisation of airports, arguing that it typically brings to the table a mélange of internal and external factors that combine to optimise airport performance generally.

An academic study released in 2022 and updated in 2023, and was prepared in the United States (where there has been very little airport privatisation), has found that those airports where private sector equity funds are invested tend to perform better than their peers across a wide range of operational, infrastructural, financial and performance metrics.

Strangely perhaps, the word 'environment' is only mentioned three times in the report and 'sustainability' not at all. In all likelihood, metrics in those categories will appear frequently in any future revision, because for the foreseeable future sustainability will be very high on the list of what makes an airport attractive to investors and increasingly - to users.

A number of fascinating conclusions were reached in the report, not least that "privatisation consistently leads to better performance only with PE involvement".

CAPA - Centre for Aviation is uncertain about some of the conclusions, but it is undoubtedly the case that this study can serve as a benchmark to attract back private funding to the sector at a time when it needs it most, with M&A activity floundering presently - as it is in most infrastructure sectors.