George Best City Airport sold for four times its purchase price

Belfast’s George Best City Airport has been sold for a record £132.5m (€164.6m): almost four times what its owners Ferrovial paid five years ago.

Spain's Ferrovial, which also owns Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and other key British airports in the BAA group, has sold the airport to the ABN AMRO Global Infrastructure Fund.

Brian Ambrose, chief executive of the Belfast airport, said the sale was expected to be complete before the end of the month.

Infrastructure giants Ferrovial paid £35m for the airport in 2003.

The Competition Commission last month said BAA should sell two of its airports in the South East of England and either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Belfast City was not mentioned in the report because it has been owned by Ferrovial directly rather than through the BAA.