State finally hands over control of 14 regional airports to Fraport
The management and operation of 14 regional Greek airports will be handed over to Fraport Greece on Tuesday, when the German-Greek consortium will also make a one-off payment of 1.2 billion euros to state sell-off fund TAIPED.
It has taken four years since the proclamation of an international tender in April 2013, and the inclusion of the concession among Greece’s “prior actions” – measures demanded by Greece’s creditors in exchange for bailout funding – for the project to be completed.
Delivery of the airports to the German-Greek consortium began early on Monday and continued until late at night, coordinated by Fraport Greece’s “command center” at its headquarters in Kalogreza, northern Athens. According to the contractor’s planning, the aim is for Fraport to oversee the first flights on Tuesday morning.
Monday saw the signing of protocols concerning the concession of the airports by the state to Fraport Greece, which include a record of what has come under the consortium’s control (infrastructure and equipment). The company has undertaken the operation, maintenance and development of three mainland airports (Thessaloniki, Aktio and Kavala) and 11 island airports (Cephalonia, Corfu, Hania, Kos, Myconos, Mytilene, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos and Zakynthos) for the next 40 years.
Within this month, Fraport will conduct extensive cleaning and renovation work at all the airports, including the painting of installations and bathroom facility improvements. Infrastructure works will begin right after the summer, to be executed by Intrakat.
Fraport’s investment program amounts to 400 million euros for the first four years, of which 95 million concerns Thessaloniki’s Makedonia Airport, including construction of a new terminal. New terminals will also be built at Argostoli (Cephalonia), Corfu, Kos and Mytilene.
