David Burt has renewed the Progressive Labour Party’s election pledge to review the airport redevelopment contract.

The Premier told The Royal Gazette that news of the possible sale of Aecon would also be considered as part of the review, although he did not specify if the review had begun or when it was likely to finish.

However, Steve Nackan, president of Aecon Concessions, maintained it was business as usual for the airport project and said the construction of the new terminal at LF Wade International Airport would not be affected by any potential transaction.

He said: “I would first reiterate that any transaction would be intended to create shareholder value and enhance Aecon’s capabilities and growth potential.

“Second, for all our operations, including our wholly owned subsidiary Bermuda Skyport Corporation Ltd, and any business units involved in construction, it is business as usual and we remain focused on doing great work for our customers.

“The construction of the airport is contracted to the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a Crown corporation of the Government of Canada; this is not affected by any potential transaction.”

News broke last week that the Canadian construction company building Bermuda’s new airport terminal was looking at putting itself up for sale.

Aecon Group confirmed that it had hired advisers from Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Montreal to explore a potential sale of the company.

The firm is the prime contractor on the airport project under a public-private partnership involving the Bermuda Government and the Canadian Commercial Corporation.

But in a statement Mr Burt described the project agreement as “a decision to privatise” the airport.

Mr Burt said: “The former Government made the decision to privatise the LF Wade International Airport to Canadian company Aecon.

“The new Government will keep the pledge we made in our election platform to review this privatisation contract, and news of the possible sale of Aecon will be considered.”

Walter Roban, the Minister of Transport and Regulatory Affairs, toured the LF Wade International Airport redevelopment project last week.

The Deputy Premier met the Bermuda Airport Authority board and staff as he checked on the progress of the project.

Work on the new terminal’s foundation infrastructure is ongoing with 70 per cent of the 725 steel piles having been driven hundreds of feet into the ground.

Installation of the above ground terminal infrastructure will start later this year, while a new aircraft taxiway is also being constructed as part of the redevelopment.