Thai group bid for airports

Thai group bid for airports

BANGKOK (AFP): A consortium of four Thai companies will bid against foreign interests for a stake in Thailand's major provincial airports, reports said Saturday.

"The four companies in the consortium ... want the Thai government to change its plan to offer the four airports only to foreign investors."

"It is unfair to allow only foreign companies to control airports in Thailand," the Nation daily quoted Bangkok Airways chairman Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth as saying.

Bangkok Airways, Bangkok Aviation Fuel Services, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand and Thai Airways International are the four firms in the Thai consortium.

The Thai government has said that it plans to offer a stake in the four airports -- Hat Yai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket -- to firms that have managed airports larger than Bangkok's international airport. No Thai companies have done that.

Several foreign companies, including Aeroports de Paris (ADP), British Airports Authority and Frankfurt Airport, have expressed interest in bidding for the stake for Thailand's few profitable airports.