S. Korean consortium wins aircraft boarding bridge contract at Heathrow

LONDON, May 17 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean consortium has secured a deal to
provide 90 passenger boarding bridges for London's Heathrow Airport, a state-run
trade promotion agency said Sunday.
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said Samsung C&T Corporation
and Hyundai Rotem Co. won the four-year contract with BAA Airport Ltd., worth an
estimated US$27 million.
The first delivery of 28 boarding bridges worth $9.5 million is to be made by the
first half of 2010.
KOTRA said the deal is significant because BAA currently operates seven airports
and plans to spend millions to refurbish its other air terminals in the next five
years. With the successful signing of the contract, South Korean companies will
be in a good position to win other deals involving the British company.
The agency also said that supplying passenger boarding bridges to Heathrow may
raise interest in other major air hubs in Europe.
Authorities at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris and Schiphol in
the Netherlands have expressed interest in South Korean-made bridges.
The deal was arranged after KOTRA invited BAA executives to the "Buy Korea 2009"
investment fair held in Seoul earlier in the year.
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