BAA Plc to acquire Budapest Airport

The world’s largest airport operator, BAA Plc has finally agreed to takeover the Budapest Airport. They would be paying around 1.26 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) for this deal and also have promised to invest more into the operations of the airport to increase the number of passengers using the Hungarian hub.

They have further plans to spend around 261 million euros ($313 million) to develop Hungary’s largest international airfield. In addition, they would be providing incentives to the airline companies in terms of low airline fees to make the airport more appealing and competitive. BAA expects to benefit from huge traffic rise from the Eastern Europe, which is growing faster than in the U.K.

BAA Chief Executive Officer Mike Clasper said in a statement about their decision to take over the Budapest Airport: “Hungary is right for us. We are looking to attract a lot of business here and we can be more competitive than Vienna or Prague.” They are expecting to raise the number of passengers using the Hungarian hub to 20 million a year in 2020. This number is just around 7.5 million this year.

The company already runs and manages the London Heathrow. They have named International Operations Director Chris Woodruff to run the airport.