HYDERABAD: GMR Airports Limited, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited achieved the Concession Commencement Date (CCD) for design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of new international airport of Heraklion at Crete, Greece, on Monday. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece laid the foundation stone of the airport, marking the beginning of the project.
GMR Airports Limited (GAL), along with its Greek partner GEK TERNA, signed the concession agreement in February, 2019 for design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of the new international airport of Heraklion. The concession period for the project is 35 years including Phase 1 construction of five years.
The consortium intends to invest over 500 million euro for development of the new airport. The project is well-funded through support of government grant and would not require any debt. The entire project will be funded through a mix of equity, accruals from the existing airport, and financial grant being provided by Greece.
Crete is largest and most visited island in Greece. Heraklion airport, located in Crete, is the 2nd largest airport in Greece and has registered a traffic growth of 10% CAGR over the past three years. The current airport will be replaced by the new airport at Kastelli.
Commenting on the achievement, Srinivas Bommidala, chairman - Energy and International Airports, GMR Group said, “GMR is the first Indian airport operator to win the bid to operate an European airport and it is also GMR’s first foray in the EU region. Along with our partner GEK Terna, we aim to deliver an airport of global standards which would be a matter of pride.”