Mexican airport group GAP sees no passenger recovery before 2023 (updated)

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV

09/12/2020 22:44

(Updates with details)
    By Noe Torres
    MEXICO CITY, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Passenger traffic at Mexican
airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP) is
unlikely to recover to pre-pandemic levels before 2023 at the
earliest, Chief Executive Officer Raul Revuelta said on
Wednesday.
    As with its peers, GAP's  GAPB.MX  operations have been
hammered by lockdown measures to contain the virus that has
caused the death of more than 1.5 million people worldwide.
    One of Mexico's main airport operators, GAP between January
and November registered 24.4 million travelers at the 14 hubs it
operates in Mexico and Jamaica, barely half of the 48.7 million
passengers it logged during all of last year.
    "We think we won't see the same number of passengers that we
had in 2019 until between 2023 and 2024," Revuelta told Reuters
in an interview.
    The company based in the western city of Guadalajara aims to
issue its first debt of 2021 during the first few months in
order to help fund its investment plans, Revuelta said.
    "Some time around the first quarter we'll launch our first
issue, but we're still in the preliminary stage of determining
more specific amounts and dates," he added.
    Last month GAP announced a 20-month delay in its spending
plans, which include more than 21 billion pesos ($1.1 billion)
worth of outlays at its airports. As a result, it now expects
that work to conclude in mid-2026 instead of December 2024.
    "Yes, we have delays, but in general terms, the big works
that we had planned for the different airports will end up going
ahead," Revuelta said.
($1 = 19.8560 Mexican pesos)

 (Reporting by Noe Torres
Editing by Dave Graham and Sandra Maler)
 ((dave.graham@thomsonreuters.com; +52 55 5282 7146; Reuters
Messaging: dave.graham.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))