Fitch Rates Tampa Int'l Airport Rev Bonds 'A+'.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2003

Fitch Ratings today assigned an 'A+' underlying rating to the roughly $97,000,000 Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA), Tampa International Airport (TPA) revenue refunding bonds, series 2003C (non-AMT), and either $23,000,000 or $63,000,000 Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, Tampa International Airport revenue refunding bonds, series 2003D (AMT), pending market conditions. The Rating Outlook is Stable. At this time, Fitch Ratings affirms HCAA's outstanding $659,555,000 TPA revenue bonds, which the 2003C-D bonds are on parity with, at 'A+'. Net revenues of TPA secure the series 2003C-D bonds. Interest is payable semiannually on April 1 and Oct. 1 in each year, commencing on Oct. 1, 2003. The bonds will be sold on a negotiated basis the week of June 2, led by JP Morgan, Other banks in the syndicate are Citigroup, William R. Hough & Co., Morgan Stanley, Raymond James & Assoc., and Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. Proceeds will be used to refund portions of HCAA's outstanding series 1993B and 1993D revenue bonds, pay costs of issuance and fill reserve funds.

The 'A+' rating reflects the strengthening of TPA's airline agreement and trust indenture with the series 2003A-B bonds, its low cost of service, improving financial results and the diversifying pool of low-cost airlines serving TPA. The 2003C-D bonds are on parity with the 2003A-B bonds. Like many other high origination and destination (86%) sunbelt airports, TPA has a natural monopoly on air service for one of Florida's biggest population bases, at 2.4 million, and has taken advantage of this position by restructuring its airline use and lease agreements in 1999. Prior to 1999, TPA's airline use and lease agreements allowed no excess cash flow for HCAA at the relatively slim 1.10(x) rate covenant. Under the new agreement, TPA has yielded the HCAA roughly $24 million annually of excess cash, after its revenue sharing with the signatory airlines, which may be used for pay-go capital spending and is also pledged to bondholders. The master trust indenture was also amended in 1999 to strengthen the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) from 1.10(x) to 1.25(x), providing additional financial cushion for bondholder security. DSCR in 2002 was 1.71(x), up from 1.22(x) in 1998 under the old trust indenture. Due largely to TPA's relatively light debt load, its airline cost per enplaned passenger (CPE) level in 2002 was a very low $4.09, which is competitive for Florida airports. Though traffic somewhat fluctuated during the early 1990s, with the presence of Southwest Airlines, TPA has had solid growth in the past 5 years, and after 9/11/01, had an annual decline of 6.9%, versus the national average of 12.3%. Maximum annual debt service for the bonds is roughly $24 million.

Going forward, additional capital spending is expected to be modest, at $75 million in 2005. As such, debt service is not expected to dip below 1.65(x), and TPA's CPE levels should not surpass $5.50 during this time. Passenger market share at TPA has Delta Air Lines at 22, Southwest Airlines at 20% in March 2003, and USAirways at 11%, with Southwest trending upwards and USAirways trending downwards. American Airlines accounts for 9% of passengers. In total, there are 14 major/national airlines that serve TPA, 3 foreign flag, 4 all-cargo and 5 regional/commuter airlines at TPA. AirTran, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, all low-cost carriers, together accounted for 9% of passengers in 2002.

For more credit information on Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, FL, please see Fitch Ratings' report on HCAA dated Jan. 31, 2003, available on Fitch's web site.