Mexican airport operator OMA taps hotel business

MEXICO CITY, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, or OMA, said on Wednesday it will develop a hotel and commercial areas at the busy Mexico City airport in a bid to boost revenue growth.

OMA (OMAB.MX) bought 90 percent of Consorcio Grupo Hotelero T2 for an undisclosed amount to develop a NH hotel (NHH.MC) and shops at a new airport terminal in the capital that is expected to serve more than 9 million passengers in 2008.

The move by OMA (OMAB.O), which operates 13 airports in central and northern Mexico and the beach resorts of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, follows on the steps of rival Asur (ASURB.MX) (ASR.N), which recently bought prime land for a big hotel development on the Pacific coast.

Analysts expect airport operators to face further weakening of passenger traffic in coming months as an economic downturn deepens and ticket prices continue to rise to partially offset costly fuel.

"The project is expected to enable us to significantly increase non-aeronautical revenues and provide better balance in the mix of revenues," OMA Chief Executive Ruben Lopez said in a statement.

He estimated that commercial space operated by OMA will increase by 40 percent with the new deal, excluding the hotel.

The estimated total investment to develop the NH hotel is about 300 million pesos ($23 million) and ICA (ICA.MX) (ICA.N), Mexico's top construction company and a majority shareholder in OMA, will build the facility.

($1 = 13.17 pesos) (Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz, editing by Dave Zimmerman)