The French parliament has approved a law governing the plan to reduce the state’s majority stake in Groupe ADP, bringing privatization of the Paris airports operator a step closer.
The privatization of Groupe ADP, which operates Paris’ Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget airports, and holds stakes in other airports around the world, is a key part of French president Emmanuel Macron’s plans to reduce national debt. But getting approval for the so-called Pacte law, which includes airport and other privatization projects, has been a slow process.
The French state owns a 50.6% stake in Groupe ADP, but once the law gets final approval from the French senate in the coming weeks, the privatization process can get underway.
Traffic at the Paris airports rose 3.8% in 2018 to 105.3 million passengers—72.2 million at Charles de Gaulle, up 4%, and 33.1 million at Orly, a 3.4% increase.
In France as a whole, passenger traffic broke through the 200 million barrier for the first time, with 206 million passengers in 2018, according to UAF, an association representing France’s airports.
Progress on the privatization of ADP comes as privatization of airport infrastructure in France is in the spotlight, with French authorities set to determine in the coming weeks whether the privatization of Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in 2015 followed correct procedures, and Chinese shareholder Casil Europe now looking to sell its stake in France’s fifth-largest airport.
Source:ATW
