In early 2008, Halcrow was appointed by ABN Amro Bank NV and Yapi Kredi Bankasi to undertake a major two stage commission in connection with the development of Istanbul’s second airport, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SGIA).
The two banks are acting as the Mandeted Lead Arrangers for Euro336 million of senior debt financing to a consortium of GMR Infrastructure, construction company Limak, and Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad. The consortium was selected by the Turkish Under- secretariat for Defence Industries for the development and operation of the Airport under a 20-year Build-Operate-Transfer concession.
The key requirements of the concession include:Construction of a new international terminal building, additional apron, multi-storey car-park and a hotel.Conversion of the international terminal into a domestic terminal and conversion of the domestic terminal for general aviation useOperation and maintaining the existing domestic and international terminalsConstruction of a new security entrance area.The first stage of Halcrow’s assignment, completed in August this year, was a detailed due diligence review of the Consortium’s proposals and business model, covering air traffic demand, technical assessment of the Consortium and its experience, technical assessment of the Construction and EPC contracts, EPC work programme, capital and operational costs, revenue generation; and environmental issues.
The second stage comprises the monitoring of construction progress and operational readiness against a 24 month EPC work programme, and approving payment requests by the Consortium against their loan facility.
SGIA opened in January 2001 and was the first green-field airport development in Istanbul for seventy years. It is located on the Anatolian coast, some 35km south of the city.
Since 2003, passenger throughput at SGIA has grown strongly to reach 1.2 million international and 2.6 million domestic passenger movement in 2007. SGIA captured over 30 percent of the growth in Istanbul’s air passenger traffic between 2003 and 2007. As Istanbul’s first airport, Atatürk, becomes increasingly congested and capacity constrained, SGIA’s share of the market is expected to grow.
The main component of the first stage of construction work is the 180,000 sq. m terminal and car park structure, managed by Limak. Now over six months into construction, the work is progressing rapidly and ahead of programme.