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clear that day, but that hasn’t always been the case.” Freeman said the US Travel


Association team was making positive inroads with the administration, but said time was needed to gain trust and exert influence. “With every administration


you have to gain credibility and show if you are a friend or foe,” he said. “Our team has done a fantastic job with various agencies, and people at the White House have seen us as an asset. As you gain credibility you can have more honest conversations.” An important area of focus


currently for the association is the funding of marketing organisation Brand USA, which is threatened with an 80% reduction in budget after a recommendation from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Freeman said he was


“cautiously optimistic” the cuts would be averted, saying the organisation had developed positive relationships with government departments, including the Department of Transportation. He also noted that a full funding renewal was included in President Trump’s initial budget. Asked about future lobbying


efforts, Freeman was bullish about US Travel’s impact, but said it was important to retain a sense of perspective. “I firmly believe you should


never get too high and never get too low. Every administration has pros and cons and your job is to navigate that situation so the seesaw is more on your side than the other,” he said.


European airports’ debt ‘hinders vital investment’


Ian Taylor


Europe’s airports face a cash crunch with mounting debt and a lack of investment capital, and the costs of flying need to rise for them to meet decarbonisation targets. That is according to Olivier


Jankovec, director general of airports association ACI Europe, who noted member airports’ debt hit €135 billion last year, 27% up on 2019. Jankovec told the association’s


annual congress in Athens last week that while airports’ costs “reached €41 billion, up 24% on 2019”, the €32 billion raised in revenue from ‘user charges’ on airlines remained 1% below 2019 levels adjusted for inflation. He noted maintenance costs had


risen by 49% per passenger since 2019 and energy and utility costs by 37% and said: “Our investment needs stand at €360 billion by 2040.” Jankovec argued: “Many airports need to embark on new investment to


revenues, including user charges.” Jankovec insisted that was a


Olivier Jankovec


meet mounting operational pressures stemming from the traffic recovery – upgrading airport facilities, building operational resilience and expanding capacity where needed.” This needed to happen alongside


investment in sustainability, he added, warning the cost of decarbonising European aviation “has soared since 2017” and will “increase the cost of flying” and drive “structurally slower passenger growth”. He said: “Slower traffic growth


and inflationary cost pressures will require increasing airport


message “national regulators need to hear loud and clear”, adding: “Airports must prepare for more traffic volatility and slower growth compared to what we’ve been used to.” He suggested there is a need


“to rethink the fundamentals of the airport business model”, arguing: “Our ability to invest remains dependent on volume growth, since market forces and regulators exercise a downward pressure on our user charges.” A Boston Consulting Group


study on ‘Pathways towards sustained value creation for Europe’s airports’, commissioned by ACI Europe, was presented at the congress. Managing director Gabriele Ferri warned that Europe’s airports face “mounting headwinds” from slowing traffic growth, intensifying operational and capital pressures, declining revenues, and environmental and regulatory constraints.


Macquarie buys stakes in trio of UK airports


Asset management fund Macquarie agreed to buy significant stakes in Birmingham, Bristol and London City airports from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan last week. Macquarie Asset Management


confirmed the acquisition of a 25% stake in London City and an agreement to buy a 55% share in Bristol and 26.5% in Birmingham,


54 26 JUNE 2025


pending regulatory approval. Details were not disclosed. Birmingham is the UK’s


seventh-largest airport, handling 12.8 million passengers last year, Bristol the eighth-largest with 10.6 million, and London City the 15th with 3.6 million passengers in 2024 – still 30% down on 2019. Ontario Teachers bought stakes


in Birmingham in 2007, Bristol in 2008 and London City in 2016. Australian group Macquarie


said the airports offered “unique propositions which present significant growth opportunities”. Macquarie and partner investor


London City airport


Ferrovial sold AGS Airports, owner and operator of Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, at the turn of the year. Macquarie has been investing in UK infrastructure since 1991, and led a consortium which owned debt-ridden Thames Water for 10 years to 2017.


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