GMR Infrastructure and GEK TERNA to build Crete airport

The Dollar Business Bureau

India’s GMR Infrastructure had bid along with Greece’s GEK TERNA last year to build an airport on the island of Crete, Greece. The bid priced at 480 million euros was well below the expected 850 million euros sources revealed. The final bid is yet to be disclosed but the news that a ‘financial offer was unsealed on Tuesday’ was revealed by an anonymous official to the media.

Greece had attempted to build the Heraklion airport several times since 2010 but due to its 7 year financial crisis, there were no investors ready to put their money into it. This project a public-private one will finally replace the ageing airport at Heraklion. Heraklion is  Greece’s second largest airport and handles 6 million tourists every year.

Tourism is an important source of revenue for the debt ridden country which expects to see 27 million tourist visitors this year up from the 25 million last year.

It is expected that the winning bidder will operate the airport for 37 years.