SPANISH owners of Belfast City Airport, Ferrovial, are
committed to the Airport for the forseeable future and
improving its facilities.

This was the reassurance given to local journalists by
the Spanish construction giants who bought Belfast
City Airport in May last year for £35 million.

Speaking to a Northern Ireland Press group in Madrid,
the company's top executive said Ferrovial was
dedicated to the airport and would invest "as far as
the environment will allow" for the next 119 years -
the remainder of its lease.

Luis Sanchez Salmeron, Ferrovial Chief Executive said:
"We see Belfast as an asset and we believe it has
great potential. There's a lot of value to create at
Belfast City Airport and we will set the standards for
the industry.

"We are not there to take the money and run."
Although the company has owned the Airport for little
over a year, already Northern Ireland travellers have
seen big improvements at Sydenham.

Ferrovial has spent £10 million on refurbishing the
runway at Belfast City and on services within the
airport, including better baggage handling facilities
and a much needed duty free retail outlet.

Ferrovial's presence is felt in other airports
throughout the world including Sydney where it owns
almost 20 per cent, Bristol Airport (50 per cent),
Antofagasta Airport in Chile and Belfast City Airport,
both where it is responsible for 100 per cent of
operations.

Belfast City Airport has a passenger capacity of three
million passengers and a review of this cap is due
soon now that the airport has almost reached its
passenger saturation point.

Unfazed
However, Mr Salmeron appeared unfazed by this handicap
to the Airport's growth. "We were aware of the
capacity constraint when we purchased the airport and
it is not a frustration for us, we are working with
it," he said.

"We understand that we have to work with local
authorities and residents but we also want to grow new
services and we are continuously in talks with
airlines," added Ferrovial's Business Development
Director, Maria Rueda.

And Mr Salmeron continued: "We are relying on existing
business but obviously we want to move forward as far
as the environment will allow us to do so."

Constraint
He refused to disclose any new route possibilities but
did say if the passenger constraint was lifted it
would "look at accommodating the likes of easyJet and
Ryanair".

Ferrovial's initial interest in Belfast City Airport
stemmed from the fact that the company saw great
potential and room for major improvement. "In our
opinion Belfast City Airport is undeveloped. We will
try to develop it and increase services.

"There is a lot of value to create in airports
especially at Belfast City and we only invest where we
see potential growth and we are very selective in our
investments."

The CEO also expressed faith in Northern Ireland with
regards to politics saying he was "confident about
Northern Ireland's political stability".

Ironically, speaking just two weeks before the
prospective sale of TBI-owned Belfast International
was revealed, Mr Salmeron told the Madrid journalists
that Ferrovial would be interested in buying Belfast
International if owners TBI ever decided to sell!
Ferrovial wants to reassure Northern Ireland people
that it will be involved with Belfast City Airport in
the long term and that Ferrovial is a "solid
professional group" with plans that are in the best
interest of the local people.

Ferrovial is a Madrid-based company which has been
running for more than 50 years. It is composed of four
divisions; Ferrovial Agroman (construction), Ferrovial
Infraestructuras (airports, highways and carparks),
Ferrovial Servicios (urban services, maintenance of
infrastructures, facility management) and Ferrovial
Inmobiliaria (real estate). It is the largest
construction company in Spain and the second largest
in Europe.

It is also responsible for some of the world's biggest
toll roads and played a major role in the construction
of the Drogheda bypass.

BY EMMA DEIGHAN