Liverpool City Council has recently announced that it has acquired a 20% stake in the Liverpool John Lennon Airport for about £12 million (US$17 million).

The City Council has acquired the airport from The Peel Group, a private real estate, media, transport and infrastructure investment company which had a 100% stake in the airport since 2014.

The acquisition comes just weeks after Flybe announced that it is mulling cancelling its route to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport  due to  low traffic.

Liverpool John Lennon is an international airport serving North West England. It is within the City of Liverpool on the banks of the estuary of the River Mersey some 6.5 nautical miles south east of the city centre.

Between 1997 and 2007 the facility was one of Europe's fastest growing airports, increasing annual passenger numbers from 689,468 in 1997 to 5.47 million in 2007. Despite passenger numbers having decreased to just over 4.3 million in 2015, this was a 7.9% increase on the 2014 total, making it the 14th busiest airport in the UK.

According to sources, Liverpool City Council said in its statement:

“The airport has seen an increase in passenger numbers, airlines and destinations served over the last year and now the council has become part of two joint venture companies to invest funds on the basis that it will make a commercial return. The council has acquired a stake in the airport in the form of shares and the investment will be used to further improve facilities for passengers and airlines and maximize the opportunity for the airport and city region to be a key gateway for the Northern Powerhouse.”

According to sources, Joe Anderson, Liverpool Mayor, said:

 “We want to help grow the airport further. It is currently growing by around 20% year-on-year and we want to make sure we have the ability to bring even more routes into the city region. If you look at Manchester, it invested in its airport a long time ago and now they get a huge revenue return from that and we just want to be at the heart of developing Liverpool John Lennon Airport. We want to do that because it is an important component of connectivity for the city region.The money from these initiatives should be spent on growing our city region economy instead of supporting public services hit by these cuts."

According to sources, Robert Hough, chairman of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, said:

“We are delighted by the city council’s decision to invest in LJLA. This investment complements the council’s existing role in supporting the local and regional economy and allows the city to share in the financial success of the airport. They will bring strong support both financially and strategically, with interests aligned to those of Peel and the wider City Region.”