Yorkshire Bank backs airports group in £280m refinance deal

The Manchester Airport Group PLC (MAG) has completed a £280 million refinancing backed by Yorkshire Bank Corporate & Structured Finance, part of National Australia Bank Group.

The bank is one of seven which are each providing £40 million, the others being The Co-operative Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Corporate, Svenska Handelsbanken, Santander and HSBC. The funding, which takes the form of a revolving credit facility, will replace MAG's existing facility.

MAG is the UK's largest British-owned airport operator with four airports - Manchester, East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth – serving around 24 million passengers a year. It also runs a thriving property management and development business.

The group, which has a turnover of around £350 million, is publicly owned by the ten local authorities of Greater Manchester and is privately managed on their behalf.

Manchester Airport, which was recently awarded UK Airport of the Year at the British Travel Awards, is the largest in the portfolio and with over 200 destinations, offers more routes than any other airport in the UK. It handles over 18 million passengers a year and has two runways, three terminals and a World Freight Terminal. East Midlands is the busiest UK airport for pure freight and mail and is home to the UK’s largest express freight operation as well as serving over four million passengers a year.

Bournemouth Airport opened a new, enlarged terminal building in 2010, and connects around 800,000 passengers to over 60 destinations every year. Humberside Airport carries some 300,000 passengers to over 20 destinations each year and is also home to the UK's second largest heliport, serving the offshore industry in the North Sea, as well as four flying schools and specialist freight handling facilities.

Peter Keighley, director of Yorkshire Bank Corporate & Structured Finance in Manchester, said: "We are delighted to be supporting the country's largest UK-owned airport operator. The Manchester Airport Group is a multi-award-winning business with activities across a variety of sectors. With passenger numbers forecast to increase, this facility will enable it to continue investing to meet demand and take advantage of growth opportunities."

Ken Duncan, Group Finance Director at MAG, said "National Australia Bank has been keen to be involved with MAG for some time and we are delighted to now welcome them to our banking group."