Kunming Airport courts foreign investors

Kunming International Airport is seeking as much as US$400 million from foreign investors including Goldman Sachs, Macquarie and Singapore’s Changi Airport, the South China Morning Post reported. Yunnan Airport Group is developing an international airport in the southwestern city of Kunming, following state council approval for a US$3 billion construction plan. The plan would make the airport China’s fourth-largest behind Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. China has increased the limit for overseas investment in its airports to 49% from 35%, but an analyst was cited as saying foreign investors are mostly relegated to second-tier airports due to political considerations. Last December, private equity group Pacific Alliance led a consortium in a US$200 million deal to secure a 49% stake in HNA Airport Holdings, which owns Hainan Airport.