Qantas seeks to sell undeveloped Sydney land in $500m deal

Qantas is looking to offload up to 14 hectares of largely undeveloped land surrounding Sydney Airport in order to free up cash and invest in the purchase of new aircraft. According to a report by The Australian, the carrier was initially hoping to develop the five separate land parcels near the airport, which it has amassed over time since the 1960s. About 40% of the land on offer is currently used for staff parking, while other parts house its aircraft parts distribution centre, engine workshop, or other facilities. The carrier revealed earlier in the year that it no longer had a need to develop the land considering the current state of play, and is now hoping to use proceeds of the sale to pay down part of its net debt of $6b, and invest in new aircraft. Despite this, Qantas appears to be an unmotivated seller, with CFO Vanessa Hudson stating any sale of all or part of the land on offer will be dependent on “strong market response”. “We’ve owned some of this land for more than 50 years and much of it is currently used for carparking,” she said. “Given how Mascot has developed over that time, there’s a lot of value we can unlock by selling it.”<br/>