Airport boss sure new owners will build on success

Ryanair launched flights from Norwich Airport in April 2024

The boss of Norwich Airport said he was confident a change in ownership would lead to more destinations being offered.

Regional and City Airports (RCA), which also runs sites in Exeter and Bournemouth, is being sold to investment firm ICG, which is listed on the FTSE 100 and manages assets worth about £92bn.

RCA chief executive Andrew Bell assured staff the deal would not put jobs at risk in Norwich and hoped it would build on the start of Ryanair flights to three destinations last year.

He said: "The plan that we have always had for Norwich - that hasn't changed - is to provide as much connectivity to places that people want to travel to and from as we can."

RCA's current owner the Rigby Group has been running Norwich Airport for 11 years but its sale to ICG, reported by Sky News to be worth around £200m, is set to go through this month.

The Norfolk airport employs 250 people and has reported a 23% year-on-year increase in annual passenger numbers, to almost 430,000 in the 12 months to March 2025.

Regional and City Airports chief executive Andrew Bell

Mr Bell continued: "There's absolutely no need for any concern or uncertainty as a consequence of the news we've announced this week - it's very much business as usual for Norwich Airport.

"There's been a lot of success in recent years there. The number of passengers that have used the airport in the past year was mostly driven by Ryanair's new flights.

"That was based on our plan with the Rigby Group to build the airport up in terms of the connectivity it offers, the places that people can fly to and from, and that plan remains exactly the same."

Asked specifically if the deal meant that no jobs were at risk, Mr Bell told BBC Radio Norfolk: "That's absolutely right."

Announcing the imminent deal, a statement from ICG hailed RCA as creating a "model of successful regional aviation".

A Ryanair plane on the runway at Norwich Airport

An ICG statement explained: "The new partnership will see ICG's European infrastructure team support RCA's continued growth, with the company set to expand its airports, cargo and executive aviation operations.

"RCA is poised to enter an ambitious new phase, with its strategic priorities remaining unchanged."

For Norwich, Mr Bell said this would mean building on the success of the Ryanair partnership, which brought flights to Alicante, Faro and Malta to the airport.

The deal also includes the 115-acre development site to the north of the airport, named Imperial Park Norwich, which has planning permission for more than 120,000sqm (143,500 sq yds) of workspace.