Aviation sector prepares for foreign operators

11 June 2004
The Civil Aviation Ministry has invited about eight prequalified international companies to submit bids for the operation and management of six of the country's biggest airports. The contracts are being offered in four packages, covering Cairo International Airport, Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada and three airports in the south of the country - Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel. The ministry is consulting the World Bank over a number of possible changes to the tender, including a proposal to bundle the contract for Hurghada with the other three southern airports. However, both parties are expected to keep to a tight tendering schedule. A pre-bid meeting is due to be held in Cairo in mid-June, and bids are due in mid-July (MEED 7:5:04).

Financial adviser BNP Paribasarranged a roadshow in February for ministry officials to solicit interest from European operators in the scheme, which was introduced at the request of the World Bank. The board of the bank in April approved a $335 million loan for the expansion of Cairo and Sharm el-Sheikh airports, for which bids are due in mid-June and mid-July respectively.

Under a $235 million, three-year upgrade and expansion programme, the government plans to build a new international airport at Borg el-Arab and expand the existing airports at Luxor and Hurghada, as well as setting up an operational database system in Cairo and a central control centre to link six regional airports to the capital (MEED 24:10:03).

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