By Emre Peker and Yeliz Candemir
Turkey plans to build the world's largest airport in Istanbul as
the government seeks to transform the country's biggest city into
an international flight hub, Transportation Minister Binali
Yildirim said Wednesday.
The new airport will occupy a 77 million square meter plot along
the Black Sea coast of the city's European side and have a capacity
of 150 million passengers annually when completed, Mr. Yildirim
said at a press conference in Ankara. He said the tender process
will start with ads in national papers on Thursday.
Turkey's biggest airport, Ataturk, currently handles 45 million
passengers annually and Istanbul's second airport, Sabiha Gokcen on
the Asian side, accommodates 15 million passengers, Mr. Yildirim
said. London's Heathrow is the world's largest airport,
transporting about 70 million passengers annually. Dubai, which
matches Istanbul's two existing airports with 60 million annual
passenger capacity, is expanding to accommodate 90 million people
by 2018.
"There has been a great increase in the number of flights to and
passengers in Istanbul in the past 10 years. The number of
travelers has surpassed Istanbul's population by four times. The
ability to improve and expand Ataturk airport is severely limited.
Therefore, in order to realize Istanbul's future air-traffic
potential and to provide a solution, it is evident that a new
airport is needed. This will be the world's biggest airport," Mr.
Yildirim said.
The government will start accepting bids for the project and
hold an auction on May 3, the minister said. The airport will be
built in a build-operate-transfer model and the winner will get the
rights to run Istanbul's new terminal for 25 years, Mr. Yildirim
said. The minister had previously forecast that the project would
cost 10 billion liras ($5.6 billion).
A three-tier process will determine the winning bid, which will
have to first meet technical qualifications, then compete on
pricing, and finally make an offer for annual rent payments to the
General Directorate of State Airports Authority of Turkey that will
be paid throughout the operating period, Mr. Yildirim said. The
highest rent payer will win, according to the minister.
Meanwhile, Turkey will provide the operator with traffic and
passenger guarantees to help the winning bid raise financing, Mr.
Yildirim said, without providing details regarding the duration of
state support.
Companies that have expressed an interest in the tender include
TAV Airports Holding Co. (TAVHL.IS), which sold a 38% stake to
France's Aeroports de Paris (ADP.FR) for $874 billion in May; Limak
Holding AS, which operates Istanbul's newer Sabiha Gokcen airport;
and Alarko Holding AS (ALARK.IS), among others.
Mr. Yildirim previously said the first phase of the third
airport will open in 2016 and accommodate 100 million passengers.
He said Wednesday the project will be completed in four stages.
Write to Emre Peker at emre.peker@dowjones.com and Yeliz
Candemir at yeliz.candemir@dowjones.com