GMR's JV with Terna of Greece receives LoA for Crete airport

Infrastructure conglomerate GMR Group announced on Friday that its joint venture with the Terna Group of Greece has won a Greek government contract to build a new airport on the island of Crete.

A company statement here said that GMR Infrastructure subsidiary GMR Airports Ltd and the Terna Group have received the letter of award (LoA) for the development, operation and management of new international airport of Heraklion at Crete.

"GMR Airports Ltd is the designated airport operator in the consortium for this project," it said.

"Expected capex for Phase 1 construction is Euro 520 million. The entire project will be funded through a mix of equity, accruals from the existing airport, and financial grant being provided by the government of Greece. Therefore debt is not required in this project."

GMR said that Crete is the second largest airport in Greece and has witnessed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in traffic of 10 per cent over the past 3 years.

"The current airport is facing capacity constraint and hence the new airport will replace the existing Heraklion airport," the statement said.

The concession period for the Crete greenfield project will be 35 years, it added.

--IANS

bc/prs