Three groups to bid for Turkey’s $2.7 bln Antalya airport deal
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Three groups including Turkish and German players will bid for a deal estimated to be worth up to $2.7 billion to operate and expand Turkey’s second busiest airport, company officials said yesterday. The winner of the tender, for which bids are due on Thursday, will manage two international terminals in the Mediterranean tourist resort of Antalya and also expand and run the domestic terminal. Newly listed TAV Airports Holding, which already runs Istanbul airport with a $3 billion deal, said it will bid, as will Turkey’s IC Holding in partnership with Germany’s Fraport. Turkey’s Celebi Airport Services will bid either with Austria’s Flughafen Wien or with Singapore-based Changi Airport. Celebi has not said who its partners will be, but Flughafen Wien said last week it was interested. Company sources said the deal could be worth $2.5 to $2.7 billion. Antalya airport, which serves tourist locations on the Mediterranean coast, is second after Istanbul in terms of passenger capacity and last year handled 14.6 million passengers. More than 90 percent of its passengers are connected to tourism, making it dependent on the sector.
