Turkey to Start Third Istanbul Airport Tender Next Week
17 Januar 2013 - 1:09PM
Dow Jones News
Turkey will start the tender process to build a third airport in
Istanbul as the government seeks to transform the country's biggest
city into a regional hub and aid its flagship carrier in its
efforts to join the top airlines of the world.
The groundwork for the project is completed and the government
will start advertising it in preparation for the bidding process
within a week, Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said in
Ankara, according to Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency.
The minister previously said the first phase of the third
airport will open in 2016.
Turkey more than tripled the number of passengers in its
airports to more than 130 million in the past decade, official data
show. Meanwhile, Istanbul's first and Turkey's busiest Ataturk
airport is already over capacity, with chronic delays just more
than a decade after Turkey's biggest airport operator, TAV Airports
Holding Co., expanded the facility with a modern international
terminal.
The need for a third airport is also driven by Turkey's flag
carrier, Turk Hava Yollari AO (THYAO.IS). The world's fastest
growing large carrier, better known as Turkish Airlines, is
currently in talks with Boeing Co. (BA) and its European rival
Airbus to expand its growing fleet of 200 jets, an Istanbul-based
spokesman said Wednesday. The airline, which uses Ataturk airport
as its main hub, plans to have 350 planes by 2015 and is in talks
with Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) to deepen its partnership with Germany's
flagship airline. The third airport would make a deal attractive
for Lufthansa as Istanbul boosts its passenger capacity to help
Turkish Airlines rival carriers from the Gulf, such as Dubai-based
airline Emirates, analysts say.
Istanbul's third airport will be close to the Black Sea coast on
the city's European side. The government wants construction to
start next year at the latest, and anticipates that the project
will cost about 10 billion liras ($5.6 billion) when all three
phases are completed. At full capacity, the airport is expected to
handle 150 million passengers annually.
TAV Airports, which sold a 38% stake to France's Aeroports de
Paris (ADP.FR) for $874 billion in May, has said that it will bid
for the project. Other companies that expressed interest include
Limak Holding AS, which operates Istanbul's newer Sabiha Gokcen
airport on the city's Asian side, and Alarko Holding AS (ALARK.IS),
among others.
Write to Emre Peker at emre.peker@dowjones.com
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