TAV Airports and Fraport JV placed the best bid of 7.25 billion euros plus VAT in a tender for the expansion of Antalya Airport's capacity and its operating rights for 25 years. Vnukovo-INTEKAR Yapı JV was the other bidder in the tender conducted at the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI). 

TAV Airports and Fraport JV will pay twenty-five percent of the bidding price up front to the DHMI. The tender covers the 25-year period from January 2027, the expiry date of the existing agreement, to December 2051.

TAV Airports President & Group CEO Sani Şener said, “As TAV, we invest in airports and conduct airport operations. Together with our partner Fraport, we have been performing successful services in harmony for three and a half years in Antalya, the largest tourism center of the Mediterranean. During this period, Antalya reached all-time high passenger traffic. Even though we have spent the last two years under the effect of the pandemic, we believe Antalya will achieve a much better place with its natural richness and cultural heritage as well as its developed tourism infrastructure. With this agreement, we will initiate the necessary investment activities at the earliest possible time in order to achieve the required capacity increase in the airport. Today, we once again reiterate our commitment to invest in Turkey and our confidence in the future of Turkish aviation. We would like to thank all our stakeholders, especially DHMI, General Directorate of Civil Aviation and Turkish Airlines, who have made Turkey one of the world's leading countries in aviation in the last 20 years, under the guidance of the Ministry of Transport. Together with our partner Fraport, we will exert efforts to realize the potential of Antalya by using the knowhow and experience we have accumulated.”

Fraport AG CEO Dr. Stefan Schulte said, “We delivered a convincing bid backed by our many years of successfully operating and developing Antalya Airport as one of the world’s premier tourism hubs. Together with our partner TAV, we look forward to continuing this dedication to customer service, innovation and operational excellence in the decades to come.”

TAV and Fraport JV will invest approximately 600 million euros in the first phase and approximately 765 million euros in total, in order to increase the capacity of the airport to 80 million passengers a year.

As part of the agreement, Terminal 2 will be enlarged to cover 190 thousand sqm from the current 82 thousand, to serve as the new main international terminal. In parallel, the domestic terminal will be expanded to 78 thousand sqm from 37 thousand. In 2040, the international terminal with an area of 70 thousand sqm will be opened. 

An additional 1 million sqm of apron area will be built and the number of parking positions will increase to 181 from 106, while the number of passenger bridges at the terminals will increase from 20 to 38. The new carpark will have a heliport on its roof, which will be able to accommodate eight helicopters. New general aviation and cargo terminals will be built together with access roads to divert the traffic from the main passenger access. The investment will be completed within three years, without interrupting the ongoing operations. 

Antalya Airport, first put into service in 1960, served 35.7 million passengers in 2019 with its domestic and international terminals with a total area of 178 thousand sqm and two parallel runways.