21 aeroporti acquires majority stake in Trieste airport

2i Aeroporti finalized the acquisition of a 55% stake in Aeroporto Friuli Venezia Giulia S.p.A. for a total value of EUR 32.8 million. The Friuli Venezia Giulia Region will maintain a 45% stake. 2i Aeroporti is co-controlled by F2i sgr and a consortium led by Ardian Infrastructure.

Thanks to this agreement, Trieste airport becomes part of one of the largest Italian airport networks, which includes the airports of Naples, Turin, Alghero, Milan (Linate and Malpensa), Bologna and, indirectly, Bergamo. In 2018, the airports of the 2i Aeroporti network handled c. 71 million passengers, corresponding to 39% of national traffic, with an aggregate turnover of around EUR 1.2 billion. 

“Through this deal the regional airport will take part to those complex dynamics that, thanks to the involvement of private partners with proven expertise and reliability, target the development of air traffic in the skies over Friuli Venezia Giulia,” Massimiliano Fedriga, President of Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, explained.

“Trieste airport is a very important dowel of our strategy focused on the development of an independent network of airports in Italy. This acquisition increases the network of 2i Aeroporti, which allows local airports to take advantages from efficiencies and economies of scale, made possible by the presence of strong, long-term investors with a clear infrastructural vision. I think that, thanks to the partnership between the public and private sectors, our airport will be able to play a very important role in favour of the economic development of the territory, becoming a strategic hub for the development of a regional intermodality,” Renato Ravanelli, CEO of F2i, stated. 

“We share with F2i and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region the expansion plan of Trieste Airport, which will increasingly serve passengers and the territory (companies, local authorities, neighboring communities). We will work in close synergy together with the management team, in order to increase the international destinations, leveraging on our professional skills and established relationships with the airlines that we have developed over the years, thanks to Ardian’s investments in the aviation sector and in the infrastructure assets worldwide,” Mathias Burghardt, member of the Executive Committee and head of Ardian Infrastructure, added.

The new shareholders, in agreement with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, will work together to further develop the connections of Trieste airport towards Italy and abroad, in order to offer quality services, with a focus on innovation, sustainability and long-term value creation. The investment plan for the next years deals with, on one hand, EUR 15 million for the strengthening of flight infrastructures, and on the other hand, EUR 11 million for further infrastructural improvements, also for airport services and other buildings. An amount of EUR 2 million will also be invested in “green projects” through the installation of renewable energy systems. Lastly, EUR 2 million will be allocated to airport security and further upgrading of access roads. 

“This operation allows us to enter into a network of primary importance and thus strengthen the strategic positioning of our airport also from a commercial standpoint", stated Antonio Marano President of Trieste Airport.