GMR Airports Limited (GAL), a subsidiary of GMR infrastructure Limited, along with its partner GEK Terna Group of Greece, has submitted a bid for the development, operations and management of New International Airport of Heraklion at Crete Island, Greece.

GEK Terna Group is a leading Greek Infrastructure company having presence in construction, energy, mining and other areas. According to GMR, this is the sole bid for this concession.

The project scope covers Design, Construction, Financing, Operation and Maintenance of the airport for a concession period of 35 years.

Under the Bid conditions, it is mandatory for the airport operator to hold a minimum of 10 per cent equity stake in the consortium.

A GAL spokesperson, in a statement, said: “The bid submission is in line with the GMR Group’s asset light growth strategy with value build up from this project coming to GMR more from leveraging the airport platform, leading to enhanced revenue based services, than just equity.” Crete is the largest and most visited island in Greece. Heraklion airport, located in Crete, is the second largest in Greece and has witnessed steady traffic growth in the last 3-4 years. The current airport is facing capacity constraint and is not able to cope with growing traffic demand.

The existing Heraklion airport will be closed once the new airport is operational. GMR had recently secured mandate to develop and operate of Goa’s Greenfield Mopa airport. GMR Infrastructure in partnership with Megawide Construction Corporation is developing Mactan Cebu International Airport in Philippines.

comment COMMENT NOW