The owner and operator of Coventry Airport has expanded its aviation portfolio with the acquisition of Norwich International Airport.

Rigby Group has bought the Norfolk transport hub from Omniport for an undisclosed sum.

Omniport is an investment and management company based at Norwich Airport which also owns Maastricht Aachen Airport.

Norwich International Airport is the principal aerial gateway to and from East Anglia and serves Norfolk, Suffolk and East Cambridgeshire.

It is also an aircraft maintenance base and an operating hub for the southern North Sea oil and gas industry.

The facility will now be managed by Rigby Group's airport division, Regional & City Airports (RCA), which also owns and operates Exeter Airport following its acquisition last year.

The company also holds management contracts for both Blackpool International Airport and City of Derry Airport and plans to build its portfolio of owned or managed airport assets across the next five years.

Headquartered in Stratford, Rigby Group was founded in 1975 and also has interests in hotels, real estate and financial and aviation sectors and owns independent technology provider SCC.

Chairman and chief executive Sir Peter Rigby said: "We have continually reiterated our belief in the importance of regional airports to local and regional communities and their economies.

"We are intent on developing our aviation business within the Rigby Group and have made another significant acquisition here.

"I am delighted to welcome Norwich's staff to a workforce that now safeguards approximately 650 aviation jobs, and look forward to working with them as we plot out a secure, sustainable and positive future for the facility."

Norwich International Airport chief executive Andrew Bell added: "This is a significant and very positive day for the airport.

"As a highly respected and stable organisation, Rigby Group's involvement will enable us to build on the many achievements of recent years, safeguarding the future of the business and providing us with a platform from which to build an even more prosperous future for the Airport itself and the region."

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