International Airport Construction

Not sure how this relates, but I found the story interesting. If nothing else it shows although the the City of Worcester simply has done a bad job operating the airport, there is an inherent value in an airport. If you want to read the whole story from the Businesswire, but here is a small part:

Among individual countries, China along with India holds considerable potential for investors. One hundred and eight new airports are to be constructed in China between 2006 and 2010, and the decision of the Chinese Government to stop providing subsidies to domestic airports by 2005 and to allow private investors to build, buy, or manage airports makes for considerable potential. The total cost expected to be incurred for the construction of new airports alone is $13.3 billion (110 billion Yuan). In India, the success of low cost carriers (LCCs) has changed the countries aviation profile as well as the outlook of both the government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) toward airports. Eight more airports are likely to be built in the country by 2010, in addition to the 94 airports that exist at present. Existing airports by themselves promise opportunities as none of these airports meet the latest international quality standards.

Overall, the Asia Pacific airport financing market is positioned to grow and sustain its profitability for the next five years, largely due to the aviation boom arising from the growth of LCCs and the recent initiatives of various regional governments to increase private participation. "Recent analysis shows that by 2015, between $150 billion and $200 billion is likely to be invested in airports globally, out of which 40 to 45 percent would be invested in airports across the Asia Pacific region," says the analyst. "The above figures are in line with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.0 percent for the air travel industry in the long term, with some 4.6 billion people predicted to travel by air by 2020."