Winner of airports contract to be known soon

THE government could this week announce the preferred bidder for the contract to build the island’s new airport at Larnaca and the upgrading of Paphos airport following the completion of the assessment of the financial bids.

The state is seeking a strategic partner to invest some £200 million into the Larnaca and Paphos airports BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) projects and run them for the next 20 years.

The three finalists are: Alterra Consortium, which took part in the development of Singapore and Manchester airports and includes Cypriot companies Lanitis E.C. Estates, Amathus Navigation Co Ltd, Cybarco and Caramondani Bros. The Royal Bank of Scotland is also involved; Hermes Airports, the second consortium, comprises investors from three international airport projects, including Irish group Aer Rianta, and Cypriot participants including Charilaos Apostolides, CTC Shacolas, Egis Projects and Iacovou Brothers; and the J&P consortium, which includes the British Airport Authority (BAA).

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.