Flying high

IMAGINE owning a shopping centre that your customers are forced to stay in for several hours. Better yet, everyone who visits is relatively rich, and many are in a giddy holiday mood. Now imagine that the number of these special shopping centres is strictly regulated, giving you a near-monopoly. On top of this you get paid a fee per visitor. No wonder buying airports has become something of an investment fad.

Though potentially lucrative, airports tie up a lot of capital, which is why governments around the world are selling them. Some are being listed on stockmarkets, others sold to private investors. The Japanese government is selling 30-40-year concessions to run some of its airports. France is flogging its regional airports: it sold a 49.9% stake in Toulouse airport to a Chinese-led consortium in December. Investors include pension funds, sovereign-wealth funds, infrastructure specialists and private-equity houses.