Government submits airport plans to the House

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday submitted plans for private sector involvement in the upgrading of Cyprus’ two airports to the House Finance Committee.

Communications Minister Averof Neophytou laid out plans to raise £90,000 for the changes.

In a letter to the Committee, the minister said the money would be used as a deposit on special contracts for the formation of a limited company, which would initially control the assets of both airports.

Tenders would then be sought to select strategic investors to run the airports for a specific period to recoup their investment.

The running of Paphos and Larnaca airports would then return to the state.

According to the letter, which was made public yesterday, the government would be the main shareholder in the limited company, with the strategic investor holding 25 to 30 per cent.

Speaking to the Committee yesterday, Neophytou said the plan had received the seal of approval from the Council of Ministers several months ago and that he would be seeking amendments to the law to facilitate the changes.

While the remainder of the Committee meeting was closed, CyBC quoted sources as saying deputies had broadly approved the changes, but that their final decisions would be determined by their parliamentary groups.

Neophytou first indicated that the government would be seeking private tenders for the airports on Thursday evening.

Speaking before a Lion’s club audience in Paphos, Neophytou admitted that the state was no longer able to run the town’s airport. He said his recent visits overseas had convinced him that the private sector was more competitive than any local government when it came to running establishments such as airports.

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