It’s not easy to navigate this perpetual post-ideological movement. One day, we’re for less state involvement in the economy and society in the name of liberalism; the next, we suddenly become statist to defend, we’re told, the collective interest.
The proof? The government has announced the sale of its stake in the Toulouse-Blagnac airport as part of a gradual withdrawal from non-strategic sectors. And an airport, moreover a regional one, is merely a commodity.
Is this a decision that might interest other airports in the future?
Christian Estrosi, who must certainly have first-hand information, immediately jumped into the fray.
In an interview published in the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, not without taking a jab at the government’s policy (which is not new), he suggests that the City of Nice could become a buyer if the State were to, one day… or another, sell its 60% stake in the airport located right in the heart of it.
This is just a forecast since we are not there yet, but it nevertheless piques curiosity: What would be the rationale for an investment that would further increase the debt level of the city or more likely the metropolis?
Currently, management is in the hands of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its Supervisory Board Chairman, Bernard Kleynhoff, but tomorrow, would it be a real surprise to see the mayor of Nice or the President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis there?
While the fear of downgrading the airport to a low-cost hub has no basis according to industry studies, one might imagine that the potential investors present in “multi-utilities” would not wish to depreciate their acquisition with a suicidal policy: All operators know that money is made from commercial activities and not from the fees paid by airlines.
The economic model, to drive maximum profitability, requires managing the largest possible volume of clients (… not necessarily just passengers). For this reason, investors aim to create a network that more easily allows for integrated management across multiple sites.
Finally, nothing wrong with the City of Nice becoming the owner of the company that manages the airport, as long as it offers enough advantages to match or even surpass all competitors.
To better understand Christian Estrosi’s strategy (if it is not just a simple tactical positioning or a mere communication stunt…), the question to ask is, why this aversion to anything “private”?
Yet, in the case of the Grand Stade (Allianz Riviera) project, the Nice municipality did agree to a PPP, which is not always the best financial solution.
Faced with such a prejudice, one wonders where the famous pragmatism that the Mayor of Nice claims for himself has gone…
