The Auckland Airport International Limited (ASX: AIA) share price is pointing towards the sky today.
In afternoon trade, the New Zealand airport operator's shares are going for $7.13 a piece, up 6.42%.
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NZ travel bubble back open for some
It appears investors are more optimistic towards AIA shares today, driving the price higher. Considering there is no news published by the kiwi airport, the momentum might be coming from elsewhere.
Yesterday, the New Zealand government announced the resumption of quarantine-free travel from Australia. However, the government stipulated it would only be available to the ACT, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria.
Meanwhile, travellers from New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia will stay on pause until 6 July 2021, at the earliest.
The New Zealand travel bubble was completely closed off from Australia on 26 June 2021.
This was in response to the growing number of locally acquired cases reported throughout the country. Astonishingly, this led to roughly a third of Australia's population being put into lockdown last week.
A rising tide lifting all airports
Another event that could be turning investor's eyes towards the AIA share price today is the proposed acquisition lobbed towards Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) this morning.
A consortium of infrastructure investors have made an offer at an indicative price of $8.25 a share to acquire 100% of Australia's largest airport. The investors include IFM Investors, QSuper, and Global Infrastructure Management.
Furthermore, the deal would value Sydney airport at $22.26 billion, 42% higher than the $15.69 billion market capitalisation at the end of last week.
The offer is only 6.9% off from the airport operator's record pre-pandemic high of $8.86. Whereas, Auckland Airport's share price is still roughly 23% off from its pre-COVID high of $9.32.
