MAG taps up Saudi investors for Airport City
EXECUTIVES at Manchester Airports Group (MAG) have been courting potential Airport City investment from Saudi Arabia.
The airport featured on a trade mission by 35 delegates including members of the Saudi royal family, embassy staff and business representatives last month.
The group was headed up by Prince Muhammad bin Fahd, the former governor of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
Yesterday another Saudi delegation was in Manchester to launch Flynas flights from Manchester to Jeddah.
MAG chief executive Charlie Cornish told TheBusinessDesk.com: “They were talking about investment opportunities in Manchester and Airport City was part of that. They are interested, and also in how they can stimulate trade, and for their companies to connect to the wider European market.
“So there’s potential, but like all international opportunities you’ve got to work at it over time. We already have links with China and the Emirates and we can stimulate trade links with Saudi Arabia, and that can only be good in the long term.”
Mr Cornish said MAG was still working on direct flights to China and said Air China and Hainan Airlines were, “very interested in Manchester as one of their priorities”. But he could not say if the flights would be agreed this year or next.
Last year MAG agreed a joint venture with the Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) to deliver the £800m Airport City scheme.
It will consist of two sections – a world logistics hub to the south of the airport and a business district to the north that will have 1.2 million sq ft of offices, 530,000 sq ft of manufacturing space and 1,300 hotel beds on a 65-acre site. The 15-year project is expected to create 16,000 jobs.
