BARNZ: Auckland Airport shareholders need to shoulder some of the burden of expansion scheme

Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand (BARNZ) executive director Justin Tighe-Umbers stated (26-Apr-2018) he believes Auckland Airport (AIA) should "stop using airlines as a bank and reinvest some of their shareholder dividends into their NZD1.8 billion (USD1.3 billion) capital build programme. The BARNZ position comes as a response to the review of AIA's proposed charges for the next five years released by the New Zealand Commerce Commission. In the report, the commission expressed concerns that AIA's profits may be too high and has not sufficiently justified NZD65 million (USD46 million) in charges over the five year period. Mr Tighe-Umbers said that while the airport is undertaking the largest build programme in its history, it is also maintaining its full dividend policy and not asking shareholder to make any contribution by forgoing dividends. Instead, the airport is "asking airlines and passengers to pay an extra NZD115 million (USD81.5 million) over the next five years". [more - original PR]