Vinci denies compensation claim

French contractor Vinci has denied that it is in talks with the French government over the cancellation of the Public-Private Partnership agreed for the Notre-Dame des Landes Airport.

In 2010 former French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s government awarded the contract to Vinci with a 55-year concession.

The contractor has said it has not received notice of termination for the concession agreement, even though the decision to terminate the project was made back in January 2018.

The actual project itself was to build a new two-runway airport, to replace the existing airport at Nantes.

A factor in the decision to axe the project was the opposition from local residents and environmental activists.

In general, the decision taken by current President Emmanuel Macron’s government to terminate the project was well received.

Macron has instead spoken in favour of updating the existing Nantes Atlantique Airport.

The overall concession holder of both Nantes and the new airport is Aeroports du Grand Ouest.

Vinci have an 85% shareholding in Aeroports, with Nantes chamber of commerce and industry holding 10% and Enterprise de Travaux Publics de l’Ouest 5%.