A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office said:

Like everyone in the investment community, the Mayor was speculating about how the airport company might finance its ambitious capital expenditure programme which has been publicly reported to include:

• $160 million in upgrades to roading and new transit system (Northern Network and SH20B improvements)
• A $1 billion-plus new domestic hub
• Approximately $200m for transport hub
• Around $75m for ongoing upgrades to the existing domestic terminal
• Expanded international airfield and taxiway capacity
• New cargo precinct
• The new international arrivals area
• A second runway

The Mayor’s point is that these are all good news for Auckland, but if the airport decides it needs to raise capital for any of them, this would require the Council to either to participate in the capital raise with ratepayers’ or borrowed money, or see its shareholding fall below the current 18%. The Mayor is not in possession of any information not available to the market.

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