Bombardier, the Canadian aircraft and air systems manufacturer, is to offer Belfast City Airport for sale. The company, which obtained the facility when it bought plane-makers Shorts in 1989, says the newly revamped airport in Belfast's harbour area is surplus to requirements and no longer forms part of its core interests.
The City Airport, which is in competition with the larger Belfast International Airport at Aldergrove, Co Antrim, and City of Derry Airport, has just had a £28 million sterling (€44 million) terminal building upgrade.
It is profitable and handles some 1.8 million passengers per year, employing some 360 staff and facilitating a further 450 airline and ground staff.
It has competed well with Belfast International, enticing airline British Midland to switch last year.
Bombardier tried to offload the airport in the 1996 but the deal fell through and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC) found that TBI, owners of Aldergrove (Belfast International Airport), Luton and Cardiff airports, should not buy it.
TBI made a non-committal statement yesterday noting the sale was a significant development.
Competition authorities believed last time the sale was offered that two airports just 25 miles apart should not be owned by the same operator. But other sources claim that a combined operation on two sites is the only real way to rival the dominance of Dublin Airport on the island of Ireland.
Another possible interested party is Mr Des and Mr Ulick McEvaddy. The two brothers run a global aviation business out of Dublin and have previously expressed an interest in becoming involved in airport ownership, most notably building a terminal in Dublin.
Mr Ulick McEvaddy said last night that buying Belfast City Airport was not a priority but that his company would "have a look at it if the price was right".
Another possible interested party is businessman Mr Dermot Desmond. A spokeswoman for Mr Desmond declined to comment yesterday.
A British White Paper, published last summer, points to anticipated significant growth in air passenger travel.
Some 4.6 million passengers use Northern Ireland's three airports, but this could rise to 13 million in just over 25 years, employing some 3,500 with 6,400 knock-on jobs created.
However, the City Airport's urban location in east Belfast could hamper further expansion, whereas Belfast International and City of Derry are not so constrained.
Smaller commuter aircraft and charter aircraft, such as BAe 111s, account for a significant sector of the City Airport's traffic, with only occasional use of larger craft such as Boeing 737s.
The local MP and the Stormont minister responsible for airports, Mr Peter Robinson, will be watching the sale closely from both environmental and commercial viewpoints.
British regional airports have soared in value over the past decade but the effects of September 11th - which prompted the loss of some 450 jobs at Shorts last week - and the unknown view of the monopolies agency will make a price tag hard to establish.
BAA is by far the biggest airport operator in Britain, with a 70 per cent share of the market.
Market analysts believe operators see a geographical spread of properties as desirable. It is anticipated that a sale could be concluded by Christmas.
