Ciudad Real Airport, Spain: 'Ghost airport' sells for bargain price at auction

  • The car park in front of Cuidad Real International Airport. Photo: Getty Images
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  • Spain's first private international airport operated its first flight in December 2008 but passenger traffic never took off and CR Aeropuertos, the operator of the terminal, went into bankruptcy in June 2012 with debts of around 300 million euros. Photo: Getty Images
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  • The partially complete walkway which was due to link Cuidad Real International Airport with an adjacent train station stands dormant after the airport closed in April 2012. Photo: Getty Images
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  • Copper cladding has been removed from the visitor?s centre of Cuidad Real International Airport. Photo: Getty Images
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  • A partially complete walkway which was due to link Cuidad Real International Airport with an adjacent train station. Photo: Getty Images
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  • The empty car park in front of Cuidad Real International Airport. Photo: Getty Images
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  • Ciudad Real's Central airport, one of Spain's "ghost airports", remained virtually unused since construction. Photo: AP
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  • Ciudad Real's Central airport, one of Spain's "ghost airports", remained virtually unused since construction. Photo: AP
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  • Ciudad Real's Central airport, one of Spain's "ghost airports", remained virtually unused since construction. The unfinished terminal walk-way is seen at the airport. Ciudad Real, Spain. Photo: AP
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  • The terminal building of Cuidad Real International Airport stands dormant after closing in April 2012. Photo: Getty Images
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  • The airport, which reportedly cost around one billion euros to build, saw its final commercial flight, from low-cost airline Vueling, at the end of 2011. Photo: Getty Images
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  • The empyt terminal building of Cuidad Real International Airport. Photo: Getty Images
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  • A baggage ramp at the terminal building of Cuidad Real International Airport stands dormant. Photo: Getty Images
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  • The terminal building of Cuidad Real International Airport. Photo: Getty Images
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  • With a runway long enough to land an Airbus 380, the world's largest airliner, and a capacity to handle 10 million passengers per year, the airport at Ciudad Real some 200 kilometres south of Madrid, has become a symbol of Spain's real estate bubble. Photo: Getty Images
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  • The terminal building of Cuidad Real International Airport stands dormant after closing in April 2012. Photo: Getty Images
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  • The visitor?s centre of Cuidad Real International Airport. Photo: Getty Images
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  • Ciudad Real, a city of around 75,000 residents located halfway between Madrid and Cordoba, attracts few visitors and the airport was designed to serve both the Spanish capital and the Andalusian coast which are both less than an hour away by high-speed rail. Photo: Getty Images
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  • Ciudad Real's Central airport, one of Spain's "ghost airports", remained virtually unused since construction. Photo: AP
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  • Ciudad Real's Central airport, one of Spain's "ghost airports", remained virtually unused since construction. Photo: AP
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Ciudad Real Airport, a symbol of Spain's economic boom and bust that folded three years ago after luring few users, is to be purchased by Chinese investment company Tzaneen International for just €10,000 ($A14,699).

Tzaneen was awarded the asset at an auction held by a court in central Spain and plans to turn the so-called ghost airport into a European hub for Chinese companies, it said in an e-mail sent by local public relations firm Estudio de Comunicacion.

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Spain granted approval in 2006 for the privately-owned airport with a 4000-metre runway originally named after the famously deluded literary figure Don Quixote. Ciudad Real sought creditor protection in 2009 following the global slump and closed in 2012 after just four years of operation.

Tzaneen said Friday it also aims to buy additional land and invest in buildings and equipment as part of its cargo plan, taking total outlay to between €60 million and €100 million.

The airport was originally conceived as a freight base to help move perishable Spanish produce around Europe, as well as an overflow terminal for Madrid, and briefly hosted Ryanair flights in 2010.

Other bidders can still try to buy the facility, located in a sparsely populated area 125 miles (201 kilometres) south of the Spanish capital, if they make an offer of at least €28 million, or 70 per cent of the airport's estimated value, within 20 working days, Efe newswire reported.

Bloomberg

See also: Runways above city streets: Is this the future of airports? 
See also: North Korea unveils new international airport

 
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