| 109 VINCI Airports, which tookover theoperations of Belgrade NikolaTeslaAirport on22nd December 2018, concludeda busyandtransformativeyear,markedbyawideexpansion of its network and strong organic growth in its airports. In terms of international development, the year started in Brazil, whereVINCI Airports took over operations of Salvador Airport in January, beforemovingtoJapan inAprilwiththe integrationofKobe Airport intothenetwork, then veairports intheUnitedStates, LiberiaAirport inCostaRica, Stockholm-Skavsta inSweden, Belfast inthe United Kingdom, and nally Serbia’s booming capital in December. This world tour in 365 days, with stops in seven countries on three continents, allowedVINCI Airports to con rm its place among theworld’s top veairportoperators.Thecompanynowoperates45 airports, located in 12 countries. Served by more than 250 airlines, these airports handledmore than 195million passengers in 2018, a total which is expected to reach 240million passengers in 2019. On 27th December 2018,VINCI Airports signedanagreement to acquire 50.01%of LondonGatwickAirport, the secondbusiest airport in the United Kingdom and the eight in Europe, with over 45 million passenger servedannually. This operation is expected tobe completed during the rst half of 2019. Beyond international expansion, the year was also marked by strong growthinallairportsmanagedbyVINCI Airports,withanaveragetra cgrowth of 7%compared to2017.The company’s expertise in tra c development and its close collaboration with over 250partnersairlinesallowed it tocontinueopeningtheworld in2018,with no less than 290 new routes opened throughout the network. The growth wasparticularlyspectacular inCambodia, where the the country’s three airportscrossedthe10millionpassengers milestone, an increaseof 20%over 12 months.Anotherhighpointoftheyear camewhen the 10 airportsmanaged byVINCI Airports in Portugal reached nearly 55 million annual passengers. Othermajorhighlights includedthepartial inaugurationof SantiagodeChile’snewinternational passenger terminal (a$930million investment todouble theairport’s capacity), andthepre-openingof Osaka Itami’s new central and rooftop areas – the largest works this Japanese airport has seen in 50 years. These results illustrate the bene t of VINCI Airports’ integrated approach: as both an investor and expert operator, the company knowswhich levers topull to unleash the development potential of eachairport, for the long-termbene tofhost regionsand local communities – frompartneringwith airlines toboost tra c, to investing in airport infrastructure to support tra c growth. As a new member of VINCI Airports’ global network, Belgrade NikolaTesla Airport will entirely bene t from this approach. Since it took over operations in December 2018, VINCI Airports has already startedworkingtoturnSerbia’smainairport intoamajorhubofSoutheast Europe. In 2019, Nikola Tesla Airport will be connected to new destinations, inorder tomeet theSerbianpeople’sgrowingdemand for mobility and deliver on the commitment made to local authorities to contribute to the country’s ambitious development plans. VINCI Airports, which took over the operations of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport on 22nd December 2018, concluded a busy and transformative year, marked by a wide expansion of its network and strong organic growth in its airports
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