ASUR Takes Control at San Juan

Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) has announced that the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Committee declared Aerostar Airport Holdings the winner of a public bidding process to become the private operators of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Aerostar Airport Holdings is a limited liability company owned 50% by each of ASUR (through its Cancun Airport subsidiary) and Highstar Capital IV.

Under the terms of the deal, Aerostar is expected to enter into a 40-year lease agreement for the airport with the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, subject to final approval of all the terms of the bid. The joint venture will make an upfront payment of approximately $615 million to the Puerto Rico Ports Authority funded by a combination of financing and equity contributions on a 50-50 basis from each of ASUR and Highstar Capital IV.

ASUR is the largest private airport group in Mexico, operating nine airports comprising Cancún, Mérida, Cozumel, Villahermosa, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Huatulco, Tapachula and Minatitlán. Its business partner, Highstar Capital, is an independently owned and operated New York-based private equity firm with a diversified portfolio of energy, transportation and environmental/waste management assets and businesses.

“Aerostar Airport Holdings is honoured to have been selected by the authority and intends to transform Luis Munoz Marin International Airport into a world-class airport through a capital investment program of over $1.4 billion during the term of the lease, while working with the airport community and airlines to better serve passengers,” said a spokesman for ASUR. “Aerostar also expects that its management of Luis Munoz Marin International Airport will help facilitate economic growth in Puerto Rico and make it a top choice for tourists travelling to the Caribbean region.”

Luis Munoz Marin International Airport currently handles over 8.5 million passengers per year and is served by 20 different operators. This month there are 5,445 planned departures offering over 500,000 seats from San Juan. The largest operator at the airport is JetBlue Airways with a 30.4 per cent share of total capacity, followed by American Airlines (17.3 per cent) and AirTran Airways (10.9 per cent). The main destinations from Luis Munoz Marin International by capacity are New York JFK (14.5 per cent), Orlando International (10.7 per cent) and Miami International (8.7 per cent).

The table below shows how capacity has declined at the airport since the turn of the Millennium, a trend that Aerostar Airport Holdings will attempt to reverse under its management. After seven years of year-on-year declines, this year is expected to see a 4.8 per cent increase in departures and a 3.5 per cent increase in capacity compared with 2011.