By January of next year the FAA will decide if the operator of Puerto Rico's San Juan airport may proceed with a privatisation effort for the island's main international gateway.
The FAA received a preliminary application for Luis Munoz Marin International airport to participate in the agency's airport privatisation pilot programme earlier this month, and now plans to take 30 days to review the application.
If the FAA approves the preliminary application, the Puerto Rico Airports Authority can select and negotiate an agreement with a private operator to manage the medium hub airport, and prepare a final privatisation application for the FAA.
Federal guidelines require that at least 65% of the seven airlines serving the San Juan airport approve the privatization effort. San Juan's tenants include US Airways, Northwest Airlines, American Airlines and regional American Eagle, as well as low-cost carriers AirTran Airways, JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines.
The FAA's privatisation pilot programme has three openings and two participants, Chicago Midway and New Orleans.
Midway operator the city of Chicago has until 1 February 2010 to submit a new timetable for completing the privatisation application process after the credit crunch thwarted efforts of a consortium to privatise the facility earlier this year.
The FAA approved the preliminary application to privatise New Orleans International airport in September.
However, airport operator the New Orleans Aviation Board has yet to issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) to pre-qualify prospective bidders for a contract to privatise the facility. The board had initially planned to issue the RFQ by the end of 2009 but has not yet voted on the matter.
The airport RFQ is not on the board's agenda for its December meeting, but will appear on the board's agenda sometime next year, an airport spokeswoman says.
Only one airport has completed the privatisation process but Stewart International airport has since returned to the public sector.
The Newburgh, New York facility was the first privately-run airport in the country after UK firm National Express Group inked a 99-year, $35 million-lease effective April 2000. But the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey assumed ownership of Stewart in November 2007, paying National Express $78.5 million for the remainder of the lease.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
