Cairns Mayor Amy Eden considers bid to buy share of Cairns Airport

The Cairns mayor wants council to consider a “blue sky” approach in buying a minor share of North Queensland Airport Groups — believed to be worth $3bn.

Cairns Regional Council Mayor Amy Eden is considering a minor bid for North Queensland Airports Group.

Mayor Amy Eden wants council to consider a “blue sky” approach in buying a minor share of the Cairns Airport — believed to be worth $3bn.

As the first round of expressions of interest close for the purchase of North Queensland Airport Groups, Ms Eden said council’s stake could be a small component of a larger consortium bid.

Options including partnering with a private hedge fund, superannuation fund or international infrastructure investor.

She said she was seeking feedback from local business leaders and residents before progressing it further, and budget implications were not yet known.

The burden on ratepayers of Mayor Amy Eden’s push to buy North Queensland Airports is yet to be determined. Inside the international terminal at Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

“Council ownership of airports is common in New Zealand and other parts of Australia, with ratepayers benefiting from annual dividends that support council’s bottom line,” Ms Eden said.

“Apart from the potential financial return, it would also give our city a direct say in our most important economic asset.

“Given we are working hard behind-the-scenes to progress a visitor levy which would boost support for our tourism sector and provide savings to ratepayers, the alignment and synergies of an ownership stake in Cairns Airport makes a lot of sense.”

The NQAG owns Cairns Airport, Mackay Airport and the Mackay airport hotel.

Mackay Airport is part of the North Queensland Airport Group’s assets.

Last year, NQAG appointed Macquarie Capital to explore all value-enhancing options, including a possible sale, following unsolicited inbound investor interest.

A potential sale of the airport has been valued at $3bn.

Ms Eden said the city needed to be bold in its thinking.

“Back in October, I spoke to Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate about his council’s bid for Queensland Airports Limited, and that led to further discussions with Gold Coast City Council to gain possible insights they learned as part of the bidding process,” she said.

“Cairns needs this type of blue sky thinking right now given we’re on the cusp of big things, whether it’s the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, increased engagement with the Pacific, and the broader development of Northern Australia.

Cairns Mayor Amy Eden believes with the upcoming Olympics, a local public ownership of Cairns Airport could benefit the city. A Virgin Australia Boeing 737 jet flies out of the Cairns Airport. Picture: Brendan Radke

“It also makes sense to look at potential new revenue streams to ensure we can minimise cost of living pressures on our residents.”

It’s understood the cost to ratepayers of progressing council’s possible involvement in a consortium bid and a lack of appetite from other councillors for such a large-scale initiative could prevent the idea from proceeding.

The sale of the North Queensland Airports would be the first 100 per cent sale of a privately owned airport with more than 1 million annual passengers, in the past 15 years, opening the assets to full foreign ownership.

Queensland Airports Limited which operates Gold Coast, Townsville, Mount Isa and Long Reach is subject to the Airports Act 1996, which enforces a 49 per cent limit on foreign ownership for airport-operator companies.

Originally published as Cairns Mayor Amy Eden considers bid to buy share of Cairns Airport