General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) to receive extra payment from Istanbul Airport thanks to passenger goals surpassed in the first operating year
Having commenced operations at full capacity as of April 6, 2019 as Turkey’s gate to the world, Istanbul Airport surpassed the International Passenger Income of EUR 233.1M which DHMI had guaranteed for the airport’s first operating year, as result of which iGA will make EUR 22.4M extra payment to the state.
Istanbul Airport, which has already proven itself as a global hub in its first year of operation on account of its unique architecture, strong infrastructure, superior technologies and the outstanding travel experience offered to its passengers, hosted a total of 55M domestic and international passengers from April 6, 2019 (i.e. commencement of operations at full capacity) to January 16, 2020.
With 11 new foreign airline companies having started operations for the first time, approximately 322 thousand flight operations were realized at Istanbul Airport in the period from the Great Move to December 31, 2019. Istanbul Airport was the airport of choice for over 52 million domestic and international passengers in 2019, with a total of 36.5 million pieces of baggage handled in that period. Having covered a lot of ground towards its goal to set a worldwide example of excellent airport operation by promoting Turkey to the top league of the airport sector, Istanbul Airport’s objectives for 2020 include inter alia to increase the number of airlines from currently 74 to 80.
Istanbul Airport’s passenger performance brings extra income to DHMI…
While the phenomenal success achieved in a such short span of time put Istanbul Airport to the spotlight in the international aviation community, Istanbul Airport managed to surpass the International Passenger Income of EUR 233.1M guaranteed by DHMI for the airport’s first operating year to reach EUR 255.6M, giving rise to an extra payment of EUR 22.4M. Thus, thanks to the guaranteed passenger numbers surpassed in the 9-month operating period in 2019, iGA will bring extra income to DHMI in addition to ordinary rental fees.
Commenting on the issue of extra payment payable to the state, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of iGA Istanbul Airport, Kadri Samsunlu, noted: “Istanbul Airport has come to these days without seeking any financial funds from the state, but using its own equity capital only. We are very proud of the point we have reached at Istanbul Airport which has managed to become a global hub in its first year already, with 52 million 152 thousand 514 passengers hosted from its shift to full capacity on April 6, 2019 until December 31, 2019. We will pay rent to the state for 25 years at an aggregate amount of 22 billion 152 million Euros + VAT. On grounds of the fact that the fee collected from international passengers departing from Istanbul Airport has surpassed the guaranteed amount, we are going to pay an additional 22,4 million Euros to the state. Thus, we will make extra contribution to the country’s national economy. Istanbul Airport has been the most affected airport from the failure to use Boeing 737 Max aircrafts in flight operations affecting the operations of THY as our flag-carrying airline. Had THY not been affected from this problem attributable to Boeing, the amount payable by us to the state would have been much higher. We have many more goals we want to achieve at Istanbul Airport. I am very confident that we will surpass the passenger guarantee as well in the years to come and thus continue to make extra payment to the Turkish state apart from the agreed rent. Acting as a tractive force for the development of our country, Istanbul Airport has delivered exemplary performance by surpassing the envisaged quantitative goals. As iGA, we will for sure continue to contribute to Turkey’s objective of becoming one of the world’s top 10 economies.”
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