THE GOVERNMENT has received 23 expressions of interest from companies in 14 countries to build and operate Larnaca and Paphos airports, the Communications and Works Ministry said yesterday.
Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr Vassos Pyrgos told a news conference that applications had been received from companies in Europe, America and Australia.
“There is a very wide range of applications, including several from well-known companies,” Pyrgos said, adding they included almost all the big airport operators in Europe. “This makes us very optimistic,” he said.
Pyrgos said that by the end of May a more detailed tenders invitation would be published abroad and that the government hoped to have a short list of candidates by the end of June and a final four or five tenders by July.
“By the end of this year or the beginning of next year we are hopeful that the tender will be awarded,” he said.
The winning company will build the airports at its own expense and run it for a period of time, between 15 and 20 years, to recoup costs under the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) method, before returning it to the government, Pyrgos said
Using the BOT system means the government will save £200 million and cut out the headache of operating an enterprise as huge as an international airport.
The state spent £1.5 million on Larnaca Airport and half a million on Paphos last year, just to keep both functioning and running to capacity.
Larnaca is serving over four million arrivals and departures a year and Paphos over 1.3 million, and growing at the rate of eight per cent per year.
When the new terminals are built, Larnaca will be able to serve six passengers departures and Paphos two million. There is also room for further expansion in two phases if the need arises, which would see capacity rise to 12 million
The new airports will retain the existing runways, which have recently been extended with rapid exits created to cut down on the time it takes aircraft to reach parking areas, which means another approaching flight can land more quickly. There is also provision for new runways in the future.
New finger-style terminal are also in the offing, with plans for 13 air bridges leading directly in to the terminal.
Outside the terminal building, parking plans include provision for around 1,000 private cars, 175 rental cars, 195 taxis, 37 buses and 320 staff parking places.
The companies that have submitted applications for expression of interest are: Airgonomics Ltd (Cyprus), Kobenhavns Lufthavene Copenhagen Airports (Denmark), SAVE S.p.A. Venice Airport (Italy), S.E.A. Milan Linate Airport (Italy), HOCHTIEF Airport GMBH (Germany), Lufthansa consulting GMBH (Germany), YVR Airport Services (Canada), Airport Consulting Vienna GMBH (Austria), Fraport A.G. Frankfurt Airport (Germany), SKANSA BOT and TBI plc (Sweden), Cintra S.A. (Spain), Parsons Aviation (USA), Walter Construction Group Ltd. (Australia), SERCO AEROSPACE (UK), J&P Ltd. (Cyprus), Airport Development Corporation (Canada), EGIS Projects (France), MALIBU (Israel), AerRianta International (Ireland), BAA Plc. (UK), BEN DOR Technologies Ltd (Israel), Alterra Partners (UK) Ltd. (UK) and Iacovou, Chapo Balfour Beatly (Cyprus).
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
