Contract for the construction of Kasteli International Airport in Crete, signed

One of the largest new-generation projects, and the largest one in the island of Crete, was signed earlier today. The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Christos Spirtzis, signed the Concession Agreement between the Greek State and the concession company “Heraklion International Airport SA”, for Kasteli International Airport project.

With the signing of the Concession Contract and its ratification by the Greek Parliament, the implementation of a project with a strong growth footprint for Crete and the country’s economy in general is due to start in the coming period. The overall invesment reached f 1.5bn euros while the scope of the contrat includes projects worth 520m euros. During the construction period, there will be 1,500 new jobs, while multiple permanent jobs will be created during the Airport’s operation.

Based on the recent report of Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), it is estimated that Kasteli Airport will create approximately 7,000-7,500 direct jobs (at the airport company, airlines, handling companies, etc.). At the same time, the new airport, will also lead to boosting indirect employment in sectors such as tourism and trade. According to the same data, it is estimated that Kasteli Airport, will spur on about 35k to 37k indirect jobs.

Kasteli Airport project will be the first major concession contract of the Ministry of Infrastructure after almost 12 years, that is, from the period of the concession contracts for the country’s 5 major motorways; it will also be the biggest new-generation project in terms of budget -estimated to cost approximately 480m euros- and the greatest project of all time regarding its contribution to Crete’s growth.

J/V Ariadne Airport Group (consisting of GEK TERNA and the Indian GMR Airports Ltd) is the concessionaire, that will also keep the management, with 54% while the Greek State holds the minority stake of 46%.

The construction of the new airport will be undertaken by TERNA. The scope of the project includes the construction of a new covered motorway, with 2 lanes per direction and traffic and a safety barrier that will be connecting Kasteli Airport with both Crete’s Northern Motorway Axis (aka VOAK) and Southern Motorway Axis (aka NOAK) in Hersonissos are, which is the most important touristic spot of the island.

Along with the airport facilities, the concession company will be able to develop commercial spaces in an area of ​​almost 99 acres (as it is the case in Athens). It should be noted that, to date, Heraklion Airport is the second largest in Greece in terms of passenger traffic, second only to Athens International Airport “El. Venizelos”.