TOKYO: Japan’s leading developer Mitsubishi Estate and All Nippon Airways (ANA) Holdings, Japan’s largest carrier, have teamed up to bid for rights to operate facilities at Sendai Airport in northern Japan.
Earlier this yearJapan opened bidding for the right to manage the airport’s runways and hangar facilities, as the nation tries to increase private investment in public infrastructure to cut its debt.
A leading trading firm Mitsubishi Corporation has also teamed up with internet mall operator Rakuten Incorporation to bid for the rights. Mitsubishi would take a 75 percent stake in the entity that would own the airport operating rights, while Rakuten would own 25 percent.
Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsubishi Corp officials declined to comment. Spokeswomen at ANA and Rakuten confirmed that the two companies were preparing to bid for the right. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the bidding process is still going on.
Mitsubishi Estate group and ANA also have general contractor Taisei Corporation, Japan Airport Terminal Company, the operator of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, and Seidai based broadcaster Sendai Television Incorporation as joint investors.
The winner will be chosen around August next year after the second round of bidding. The first round of bidding will close on Friday, according to Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The Sendai Airport, damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, serves the northeastern coastal region that was hit hard by that disaster and is now the center of a reconstruction boom.
