Concession contract for Crete's new Kasteli Airport to be inked by end of February

Next week, and most likely on the 21st of February, the concession agreement for the New International Airport in Kastelli, Heraklion will be signed, according to information published by ypodomes.com

Following the signing, the ratification from the Greek Parliament will follow, the last step tha will allow the lauch of the construction works, which will last 5 years.

During the construction phase, the project is projected to create more than 2,000 jobs, while it will boost employment with many indirect jobs that will be created by subcontractors, that will be mostly local companies, involved in the construction project.

Kasteli Airport project will be the first major concession contract of the Greek Ministry of Infrastructure after almost 12 years, that is, from the period of the concession contracts for the country's 5 major motorways; it will also be the biggest new-generation project in terms of budget -estimated to cost approximately 480m euros- and the greatest project of all time regarding its contribution to Crete's growth.

J/V Ariadne Airport Group (consisting of GEK TERNA and the Indian GMR Airports Ltd) is the concessionaire, that will also keep the management, with 54% while the Greek State holds the minority stake of 46%.

The construction of the new airport will be undertaken by TERNA. The scope of the project includes the construction of a new covered motorway, with two lanes per direction and traffic and a safety barrier that will be connecting Kasteli Airport with both Crete's Northern Motorway Axis (aka VOAK) and Southern Motorway Axis (aka NOAK) in Hersonissos are, which is the most important touristic spot of the island.

Along with the airport facilities, the concession firm will be able to develop commercial spaces in an area of almost 99 acres (as it is the case in aAthens). It should be noted that, to date, Heraklion Airport is the second largest in Greece in terms of passenger traffic, second only to Athens International Airport "El. Venizelos".

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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Schuppi