MIRA Acquires Farnborough Airport (EGLF)

Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (“MIRA”), via Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 6 (“MEIF6”), has acquired Farnborough Airport (EGLF) from a consortium of private investors.

MIRA is a global investor in airport infrastructure and FBO facilities, with approximately 72 million passengers using MIRA-managed airports each year. MIRA-managed funds are invested in 12 commercial airports across Europe and Australia, and 68 FBO facilities across the United States.

Macquarie has had a presence in the UK for 30 years, opening its London headquarters in 1989. Today, Macquarie is one of the largest investors in the UK, having invested and arranged more than £40 billion in infrastructure projects since 2005.

Farnborough Airport has seen significant growth throughout 2019 and last month was the busiest September on record, with air traffic movements up by over 17 per cent compared with last year. For air traffic to and from the U.S. and Canada in particular, movements saw an increase of 19 per cent for the first nine months of 2019, compared with the same period in 2018.

Farnborough Airport currently handles over 30,000 flights per year and is equipped to cater for a wide range of aircraft types, including Boeing Business Jets and Airbus Corporate Jets.  As the only dedicated business aviation airport in the UK, it is specifically designed to offer a one-stop shop for business aviation operators and with 240,000 sq ft of climate-controlled hangar facilities and 1.2m sq ft of ramp space can accommodate both based and transient aircraft.