Privatised Tweed New Haven Airport: part two – expansion thwarted by environmental opposition

There has been a continuing lack of take-up of the airport privatisation programme in the US - where whole airports can be leased (but not sold), contrasted with a burgeoning public-private (P3) programme for specific infrastructure.

The recently formally approved lease concession deal on the Tweed New Haven airport in New England combines the two, encouraging the operator Avports and financier Goldman Sachs to manage the airport and to expand it by way of a new terminal and a runway extension. The latter, in particular, is a necessity if the airport is to reach its potential and provide a first class facility for the local population.

Already the environmental lobby is ranged against expansion, winning support of one of the city owners and threatening to launch a process that has delayed another privatisation deal several years.

Like it or not, Tweed is becoming a ‘test case’ for the future of these deals.

This is part two of a two-part report.