BAA to manage Ngurah Rai airport

BAA to manage Ngurah Rai airport

JAKARTA (JP): British firm BAA Pacific has agreed to manage
Bali's Ngurah Rai airport's commercial activities in a joint
operation with state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I.

Angkasa president Fachri Zainuddin said yesterday BAA would
help expand the airport's commercial activities.

The US$46 million expansion would start once the Ministry of
Finance approved it, he said.

"The joint operation will allow BAA to manage the commercial
activities for 20 years. In return, BAA is required to provide
commercial spaces for duty free shops," he said after meeting
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto.

He said profit from the airport's commercial activities would
increase by at least 5 percent a year. "Our profit reached $18.5
million in 1995 and was estimated to reach $20.5 million last
year."

Fachri said if profit rose more than 5 percent, the rest would
be shared equally between Angkasa and BAA.

Angkasa operates airports in Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi,
Surabaya in East Java, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Biak in
Irian Jaya, Manado in North Sulawesi, Banjarmasin in South
Kalimantan, Yogyakarta, Surakarta in Central Java, Ambon in
Maluku, Semarang in Central Java and Lombok in West Nusa
Tenggara.

BAA operates international airports including London's
Heathrow and Gatwick airports and airports in Minneapolis and
Pittsburgh in the United States.

BAA executive John Egan said his company was "interested to
deal with the Ngurah Rai airport because of the rapid growth in
number of passenger arrivals. This is a terrific place to start".

He said BAA would improve Ngurah Rai airport which had 5.6
million passenger arrivals last year.

BAA's 1995 revenue was $2.5 billion and its profit $600
million. We expect a 10 percent growth rate in profit," Egan
said. (icn)