The former premises of Raphael at Mill Street in Bideford is back up for auction. Credit: Clive Emson Auctioneers
Search
10 Oct 2025
Search
10 Oct 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Exeter Airport looks set to be sold, along with Bournemouth and Norwich airports in a £200m deal. Credit: LDRS
Exeter Airport is being sold as part of a multi-million-pound deal.
It is one of three regional airports to be snapped up by investment firm ICG, a London-based asset management company with offices in 17 countries and revenue of more than £970million.
It has reportedly agreed a deal with Rigby Group to buy Exeter along with airports at Bournemouth and Norwich for around £200million. The deal will be finalised later this month.
READ NEXT: Devon vet nurse ‘trapped’ in Spanish hospital set to fly home today
Exeter Airport, which hosts airlines including Tui, Ryanair, KLM and Aer Lingus, was owned by Devon County Council until 2007, when it was sold to Regional and City Airports for £60million.
It was then sold on in 2013 to Rigby Group for an undisclosed sum.
Ludovic Laforge, managing director at ICG European Infrastructure, said: “We’re proud to be partnering with one of the UK’s most dynamic regional airport groups in a transaction that underscores our commitment to supporting high-potential infrastructure assets.”
The three airports are operated by Regional and City Airports (RCA), which is now a division of the Rigby Group.
The new owners say RCA will expand its airports, cargo and executive aviation operations, as well as accelerating its sustainable aviation practices.
“RCA has become a model of successful regional aviation,” according to ICG.
“Under Rigby Group’s stewardship, passenger numbers have risen to over 2million, up 13 per cent year-on-year, providing clear evidence of RCA’s sustained growth.”
READ NEXT: Bookings to Exeter Airport’s latest destination proving “extremely promising”
RCA chief executive Andrew Bell added: “RCA has flourished into one of the leading UK airport groups and a high-performing enterprise. We are now ready to accelerate further.
“Across our networks it will be business as usual, with the same outstanding team and vision, boosted by renewed momentum to drive our continued growth, innovation and sustainability.”
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
