Bankruptcy Administrators overseeing the sale of Ciudad Real Airport have extended the deadline to sell the privately owned facility until January 24th.

The process, which started on December 2nd, expired on December 29th without bids being submitted to purchase the airport at offers of more than €100 million.

However, the administrators were able to appeal to the Commercial Court of Ciudad Real on grounds that the Christmas break deterred potential interest.

At a press release given earlier on Friday airport managers confirmed that any bids over the sum of €80 million would be considered on the provision that they are secured with a 5% bank guarantee. Further insurances, together with approval from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, would be required if an offer were to be accepted by a non-Spanish investor.

The asset building cost was €1.1 billion (US$1.5 billion). Construction of the airport was heavily funded by the Caja Castilla La Mancha savings bank - the first of Spain's troubled savings banks to be bailed out, in 2010.

Ciudad Real's central airport, located about 150 miles south of Madrid, opened in 2008. The airport's operator went bankrupt last year after it failed to draw enough traffic, becoming known as one of the country's "ghost airports."

Ciudad Real, a city of around 75,000 residents located halfway between Madrid and Cordoba, attracts few visitors and the airport was designed to serve both the Spanish capital and the Andalusian coast which are both less than an hour away by high-speed rail.