Does anyone else out there cringe at the diatribe currently spinning around regarding the proposed acquisition of Auckland International Airport by a UAE based entity?

It seems to me yet another example of good old Kiwi tall poppy syndrome/xenophobia/parochialism.

For the record;

  • No one here complains when Graham Hart buys yet another Swiss packaging company
  • As far as I am aware no one in Switzerland complains when the above occurs either
  • The Emirati interests are well known for running businesses well
  • No one in their right mind would purchase an infrastructural enterprise like AIA and run it into the ground
  • We live in a global village

We can’t have it both ways – it’s either 70’s isolationism a la Muldoon or we go for the global village strategy – and if we go back to isolationism…..

No more widescreen LCD TV’s and cheap late model cars anymore….

Ben Kepes

Ben Kepes is a technology evangelist, an investor, a commentator and a business adviser. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.

4 Comments
  • Are Winston Peters et al going to ask Infratil to sell Prestwick Airport in Glasgow or their other overseas airport investments? I think not.

    It would be interesting to see people’s reaction if it was an Australian company behind the offer. Just like with the ports deal in the US Dubai gets an unfair reaction.

    Having been to Dubai 4 times I was more excited about the possibilities their involvement brings. These people are about to build one of the biggest airports in the world from scratch with 6 parallel runways no less. Having access to the expertise involved with that can only be a good thing.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_World_Central_International_Airport

  • Falafulu Fisi |

    The government should fully privatised the Auckland airport.

  • With all due respect this is not a simple either/or argument. Globalisation favours the privileged at the expense of the locals in almost every example that I know of.

    I’d say it is in NZ’s long term interests to have closer ties to Dubai – businesses and this is one way of facilitating that.

    There is a long feature on Emirates over at NYTimes
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/business/06emirates.html?pagewanted=2

    Being able to do long haul mostly , operate your home airport 24hrs a day and being located in the Middle East are all huge benefits for Emirates / Dubai Aerospace.

    They have been very successful and part of their success comes from long haul and so making Auckland a hub for this region could well work out.

    I would think having Dubai as a partner would be very useful for the Airport but it would be good if the local authorities could retain a shareholding so some of those profits can be retained locally.

    With oil now heading for $100 a barrel in the near future and prbably $300/barrel in the next 5-10 years this is going to radically change the airline industry – who apart from Emirates are pretty much basket cases financially.

    I can see Air new Zealand being nervous about the Emirates connection but maybe they needs to sell some shares to Emirates and do more codesharing anyway. Doesn’t make sense for Air NZ to get bigger

    BUt does make sense for Dubai Aerospace to invest here.

  • Does anbody have a phone number for Graham Hart’s offices in Auckland or email for his PA.

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