brisbane's airport link

Now that the acquisition of Queensland Motorways' toll-road portfolio is all but secured, TCL must have its eyes firmly set on Brisbane's AirportLink road tunnel.

Airport Link is the only toll road in Queensland that was not part of Queensland Motorways' portfolio.

TCL has a track-record of acquiring toll roads that connect or feed its existing assets. The most recent example is the acquisition of the cross-city tunnel in Sydney. Prior to that, TCL acquired the Lane Cove tunnel (also in Sydney).

Brisbane's Airport Link road tunnel is a similar type of asset, connecting with two of the tunnels being acquired from Queensland motorways; the Clem7 and Legacy Way. In fact, all three of these tunnels were constructed as part of the same concept named "Transapex", a network of roads which was devised by Campbell Newman in his successful election campaign to become Lord Mayor of Brisbane.

Each tunnel was built and financed independently of each other. The Clem7 and Legacy Way ended up in the hands of Queensland Motorways. In contrast, Airport Link remains in the hands of receivers appointed when the tunnel failed to produce sufficient income to meet debt commitments.

Its unclear why Airport Link remains in the hands of receives and I have found no news indicating that Airport Link is on the market. The reason for this I believe is that the receivers see upside in waiting for traffic to improve. And traffic is certainly going to increase following the completion of Legacy Way (which is still under construction).

In conjunction with Airport Link, completion of Legacy Way will provide a competitive alternative for road users travelling from Brisbane's Western Suburbs to the Northern Suburbs. This will almost certainly result in a traffic uplift on Airport Link. Perhaps receivers believe its best to wait until traffic improves before selling the asset.

And I'm sure TCL is waiting patiently for an opportunity to make a bid.