A Vancouver company that managed a US$410 million airport redevelopment in the Caribbean aims to convert awards for that project into winning bids to manage and take ownership stakes in more international airports.
Vantage Airport Group flies under the radar of most local business observers, but its network of 10 airports generates a combined $500 million in gross sales.
An undisclosed slice of those sales then trickles onto Vantage's balance sheet as revenue, based on various agreements with airport owners and its performance-meeting targets.
The venture, which is half-owned by the Vancouver International Airport Authority, won kudos February 19 when Airports Council International (ACI) named Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport as the most improved airport in the Latin American-Caribbean region.
AIC spokeswoman Martine Ohayon told Business in Vancouver that AIC staff had travellers complete standardized questionnaires at hundreds of airports to determine winners in various regions.
Vantage manages Nassau's airport and was in charge of raising the US$410 million investment for its redevelopment from various investors, funds and banks.
The Bahamas government owns the airport through Nassau Airport Development, which in turn contracts Vantage to manage what is now a 606,269-square-foot facility with greater revenue potential.
"We believe investing in airports makes sense," Vantage CEO George Casey told Business in Vancouver. "Not all opportunities in the airport private sector include both the investment and management aspect, so that's why you'll see a diverse portfolio [with Vantage having varying degrees of ownership at each airport]."
Vantage is currently bidding to manage and take an equity stake in LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
It owns equity stakes in various airports around the world, including a 65% stake in England's Liverpool John Lennon Airport and a 100% stake in the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, and a minority stake in two airports in Cyprus.
Casey would not disclose how much of an ownership stake in LaGuardia Airport Vantage wants, but he's optimistic that his company's success in Nassau puts it in good stead to become a private partner working alongside the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in a private-public partnership.
"Nassau was an extremely challenging project and the largest infrastructure project that the country has ever undertaken," he said.
It was not, however, the largest project that Vantage has taken on.
Vantage also oversaw construction of a 517-million-euro passenger terminal that opened in 2009 at Cyprus' Larnaca International Airport, which it manages.
That followed construction of a 126-million-euro passenger terminal at another Vantage-managed facility, Cyprus' other main airport, Paphos International Airport, one year earlier.
No Canadian companies were used as contractors for the Cyprus work. Casey said that Stantec and Ledcor, which both have a large B.C. presence, were contracted to help design and build the Nassau airport.
"One of the focal points when we started was to involve local B.C. and Canadian firms in the work to the extent that we can," Casey said.
"Sometimes there are provisions in the agreement or the tender process where you have to use local expertise, but, where we can, we like to bring Canadian companies with us." •
