ALEXANDRA WEY
The corona virus pandemic is increasingly affecting airport operators in Europe. Nevertheless, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) confirms its credit rating “AA-” for Zurich Airport, but it lowers the outlook.
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In addition to the travel restrictions and quarantine requirements that individual countries have introduced, a recession in the Eurozone and the UK should now slow the recovery of passenger traffic. S&P therefore expects European airports to have much weaker cash flows and credit ratios.
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The airports suffered from an extremely uncertain business environment and a recovery should take more time than in the past. The number of passengers at European airports could drop by up to 35 percent compared to 2019. There are likely to be further serious disruptions in the next three months. S&P does not expect a recovery until the fourth quarter.
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In an analysis published on Friday, S&P confirms the “AA-” rating for Zurich Airport, but lowers the outlook to “negative”.
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No immediate action
Due to the strong balance sheet, the high cash position and the stable real estate income, S&P decided not to take any immediate measures and to monitor the situation closely in the future, it said in a statement by the airport.
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The current ratings for Royal Schiphol Group and daa PLC were also confirmed, S&P said in the report. However, the outlook is also lowered to “CreditWatch negative”. In contrast, for Heathrow Funding Ltd., Gatwick Funding Ltd. and Avinor AS lowered the ratings by one notch – with a negative outlook.
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In addition, the ratings for Aeroporti di Roma SpA and the regulated air traffic controller NATS (En Route) PLC. confirmed The Aeroporti di Roma (SACP) stand-alone credit profile is, however, reduced by two levels. (SDA)
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