On Thursday, top airport executives from around the world will be gathered in Miami, Florida for GAD Americas to get the latest on public-private partnership (P3) and operations and maintenance (O&M) deals.

As COVID continues to retreat and air traffic surges, the event is expected to be well attended as the investor community revives its interest in airport projects that were paused during the pandemic.

A busy conference agenda has been planned for the two-day event from June 1-2 covering everything from IATA’s airline outlook, to how private investment via P3 has turned LaGuardia from ugly ducking to beautiful swan.

The programme kicks off with Modalis Infrastructure Partners (the developers of AirportIR) providing an informal introduction to GAD for newcomers, spanning the full spectrum of airport ownership and operational models.

Two of the four Modalis partners, Carlos Allimant and Curtis Grad, will set the scene, breaking down the entire process by looking at four aspects:

• The fundamentals of why airports are attractive assets
• Investment and finance 
• Traffic and revenue
• Operating costs and capex.

They will examine the current appetite for global private sector participation in airports, the key elements in ‘granting of rights’, and the main private sector participation models that are used, as well as P3 processes and the legal frameworks required to make them work smoothly.

On Day 2 there will also be a deep dive—region by region—into projects around the world that AirportIR tracks on a daily basis in its Deal Pipeline, as well as an Airport Investment Bootcamp to round out the programme. A big focus will be on Brazil’s successful privatizations and a look at prospects in India and Saudi Arabia.

The Evolution of Models

GAD has been the go-to forum for airport P3 projects since 1994 and this session will provide a background to the evolution of airport models around the world and their terminology. It will also consider the impact on the airport business and infrastructure development models.

As more government-owned airport authorities and/or listed airport operators take the P3 route—be it for terminal development and operation or the handover of the entire airport infrastructure—the detail of the models has become more diversified (see chart above).

In theory, this diversification offers more room for discussion and can bring more participants to the table. This is especially true now that traditional divisions between operators, developers, investors, and contractors are disappearing and, sometimes, merging.

Allimant and Grad will also be outlining how pricing comparisons (EBITDA multiples) can be used to determine whether projects/airport locations are more like ‘trophy assets’ or have the potential to turn into a feeding frenzy as bidders pile in. London City could be classed in the former group and certain airports in Brazil’s ongoing privatizations in the latter. The average EBITDA multiple, by the way, is around 16%.

This early session will also consider future traffic growth, aircraft orders by region, and developments in aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue that are key in determining bid decisions.

For a copy of the Airport Deal Pipeline and Airport Investor Bootcamp presentations, please email [email protected].