The Slovak government is considering whether to rent out the Bratislava airport to a private sector company that who would carry out a modernization of the facility in return for a concession to operate it for 25 to 30 years. Transportation Minister Andrej Doležal said it was not an attempt to privatize the airport since all of its key infrastructure would remain property of the state. “If the airport doesn’t have the resources to carry out basic investments that could cost tens perhaps hundreds of millions of euro and if the state can’t invest in the airport that the only legitimate way to get the airport going again is the entry of a private operator,” said the minister. He said that in view of the current health crisis, progress on this matter had stopped but that the government would get the airport set up as best as possible in order to be ready to begin negotiations. He said that fears that Bratislava’s international airport would simply be turned into a cargo hub were unfounded because the state would have control over the activities and plans of the operator.
