New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) GMR Airports Limited (GAL) on Friday said it has submitted the bid along with its partner GEK Terna Group of Greece for the development, operations and management of new international airport of Heraklion at Crete Island, Greece.
According to the GMR Infrastructure's subsidiary, the scope of the project involved design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the airport for a concession period of 35 years.
"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," a GAL spokesperson was quoted as saying in a statement.
The statement pointed out that GEK Terna Group is a leading Greek Infrastructure company that has presence in construction, energy, mining, waste management, concessions, real estate development and facilities' management.
"It is understood that this is the sole bid for this concession," the statement said.
"Upon award, GAL will be the airport operator for this project. Under the bid conditions, it is mandatory for the airport operator to hold a minimum of 10% equity stake in the consortium."
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 said to be 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.
