Meinl Airports International develops low cost airport for Warsaw

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St, Helier Jersey (euro adhoc) - Jersey, 5th February, 2008. Meinl Airports
International Ltd. (MAI) will develop an airport for the metropolis Warsaw and
the Warsaw region. The new airport at Sochaczew, 40km west of Warsaw will
concentrate preliminary on low cost carrier service. The total investment volume
for the development of the airport amounts to approximately EUR 210 million,
with the first flights planned to take off by 2011. The airport harbors a
significant growth potential, as a considerable increase in the flight volume is
expected for Warsaw and the existing "Warsaw Okecie Airport" will reach its
capacity limits within the coming years. Experts expect that by the year 2012 an
annual passenger volume of more than 2 million will be handled at Sochaczew.

MAI prevails over international competitors in public tender and acquires a 40%
stake in airport company - expected IRR 17%.

In the past months, MAI has prevailed over international competitors in a
multi-stage call for tenders and was awarded the contract to transform and
develop the former military airport at Sochaczew into an international
commercial airport.

Initially MAI will acquire a stake of 40% in the new airport company, with the
remaining shares held by the state and a private Polish owner. It is intended
that MAI will, during the development process, increase its stake as it becomes
permissible in Poland, which is limited to 49% at the moment. As a first step,
MAI will provide the required equity to finalize the project concept, and the
local partners will in turn bring the land plots into the airport company. The
total investment volume for the development of the airport and its
infrastructure is expected to amount to approximately EUR 210 million. The
project shall be financed with a debt ratio of at least 50%, thus increasing the
return of the shareholders on the capital employed. The definite financing
structure will be fixed at the start of construction in 2009 at the latest.
Based on the current plans, MAI´s equity investment in the project will amount
to approx. EUR 50 million, whereof the bulk has to be paid stepwise after the
ground breaking.

The expected return on equity for the project amounts to 17%.

Low cost airport for Warsaw - concept follows other successful low cost airports

MAI´s partner in the tendering process was the operating company of the airport
Cologne-Bonn, which will also act as a consultant for the development of the
Polish airport. There are, however, no plans for the German airport to acquire a
financial stake in the project.

The Cologne-Bonn airport has substantial experience in developing a successful
low cost carrier concept: since Germanwings, headquartered at Cologne airport,
started its operation 6 years ago, the former regional airport managed to
increase its passenger volume from 5.4 million passengers in 2002 to 10.5
million passengers in 2007. Other European airports that focus on handling low
cost and charter flights or have become alternative airports for these segments,
have also shown a highly dynamic development, airports such as Stansted or the
German airport Frankfurt-Hahn, whose background is very similar to Sochaczew: In
the mid-nineties a former military airport was successfully transformed into a
commercial airport focusing on handling low cost flights. Frankfurt-Hahn now
handles an annual passenger volume of approximately 4 million.

Attractive growth potential based on dynamic passenger volume increase in the
Warsaw region

The airport´s potential results from the dynamic growth of air traffic in Poland
as a whole and the Warsaw region in particular. Over the past 10 years, the
passenger volume at Warsaw airport has increased from approximately 3.1 million
in 1996 to 8.4 million at present. This corresponds to an annual increase of
more than 10%, and is expected to continue. Based on forecasts of the Polish
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) the annual passenger volume in Warsaw or the
Warsaw region will exceed 15 million passengers by 2015.

The location of Sochaczew and its available infrastructure, plus the expected
passenger volume growth in the region, provides Sochaczew with all possibilities
to establish itself as a second airport in addition to the main airport of
Warsaw-Okecie.

Start of operation 2011 - more than 1 million passengers expected per year

The contracts were signed this week, and in the weeks to come MAI and its local
partners will finalize the development concept for the airport. The new airport
at Sochaczew shall be established primarily as airport for low cost flights and
is intended to relieve the existing Warsaw airport in this segment. As Roman
Himmler, Chairman of Meinl Airport Managers, puts it, "We do not consider
ourselves as competitors for "Okecie", much rather the new airport aims at
optimally complementing Okecie."

And he goes on to say, "Based on the final development concept, MAI plans to get
the necessary approvals and permits for realizing the concept by the end of
2008, so that the first sod can be turned and construction can start by 2009.
After a construction time of about 2 years and a subsequent test phase required
worldwide for getting the final operating license for airports, the new airport
is expected to handle the first passengers in 2011."

Based on a market and project study, Sochaczew is expected to handle more than 1
million passengers one year after start of operation. Within 5 years after start
of operation, 3 million to 4 million passengers will be handled per year, and in
the long term, annual passenger volumes are expected to approach the two-digit
million range.

First international airport with international participation planned in Poland

The planned new airport for Warsaw is the first MAI project in Poland and hence
an important step for the further development of the company in this attractive
investment market. "The new Sochaczew Airport is also the first greenfield
project that we develop `from scratch´. That way, the project is an essential
milestone for the successful future development of MAI in general", said Mr.
Himmler and he added, "In addition, Sochaczew is the first international airport
with international participation planned in Poland."

Further inquiry note:
Meinl Airport Managers Ltd.
Nadine Gilles
Member of the Board
+421 911 500 730
[email protected]

end of announcement euro adhoc
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emitter: Meinl Airports International Ltd.
32 New Street
A-JE2 3RA St, Helier Jersey
phone: +43 676/ 840 531 202
mail: [email protected]
WWW: www.meinlairports.com
sector: Real Estate
ISIN: AT0000A053N4
indexes: other listings
stockmarkets: Third Market: Wiener Börse AG
language: English

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