ISTANBUL VENTURE RAISES MAHB'S WORLD CLASS STATURE

By Nasriah Darus

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is on the right track towards scaling new heights in emerging as an international class airport operator, with its latest venture in Istanbul’s Sabiha Gocken International Airport (ISGIA).

After having notched up commendable success from the Astana International
Airport in Kazakhstan, the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad
and Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, MAHB’s expansion in Istanbul
certainly enhances its stature as an international airport operator and manager.

The new terminal at the ISGIA, with MAHB as part of the consortium behind
the project, will be officially opened this Saturday.

The opening ceremony for the new terminal will be graced by Turkey's Prime
Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

MAHB has joined hands with GMR Infrastructure Limited of India and Limak
Group, a Turkish company, to develop, manage and operate ISGIA.

The facility, on the Asian side of the bicontinental city, is named
after Sabiha Gokcen, the first female combat pilot in the world.

ISGIA, a greenfield airport, built from scratch in a new location, chalked
up the highest passenger growth rate between 2002 and 2007.

Passenger traffic is expected to reach 25 million passenger by 2023.

MAHB has a 20 per cent equity in the consortium involved in building the new
terminal which is estimated to cost 343 million euros and will cater for 10
million passengers annually.

Besides being a shareholder in the consortium, MAHB is also involved in the
provision of advisory and consulting services in the airport master plan and
detailed design study, especially in the operational readiness and airport
transfer exercise.

MAHB currently manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia -- five
international, 16 domestic and 18 short take-off and landing ports.

The completion of the new terminal by 2010, will bring MAHB even closer to
achieving its targets.

For one thing, developing the ISGIA and placing it among the leading
airports in the world, will contribute tremendously to the travel and tourism
industry of Turkey.

"Besides this, the terminal will open a new chapter for Malaysia
Airports in its overseas endeavors and further reinforce our status as one
of the most sought-after service providers in the field of airport operations,"
Dr Aris Othman, the chairman of Malaysia Airports was quoted as saying
after the ground breaking ceremony for the new terminal last year.

MAHB has assigned a number of its experienced personnel to ISGIA to
assist
in the operations, technical and financial matters of the airport.

Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, who made a visit
to the new terminal early this month, was reported as saying that the project
served as an international acknowledgement of Malaysia's expertise in airport
development and management.

He said it was also "a good example of how government-linked companies like
MAHB can succeed abroad, on their way to becoming global icons".

Meanwhile, its managing director Bashir Ahmad said MAHB was always
looking for new opportunities in countries closer to home like India, China and
the Middle East.

He also revealed that discussions have been ongoing with two parties in the
Middle East and Africa on the possible management of airports with expectations
that talks might hopefully be concluded by the first quarter of next year.

On MAHB's airport management venture with JSC International Airport
Astana (Astana), both have agreed on the mutual termination of the Trust
Management Agreement for it effective June 4, this year.

MAHB said the decision was made in view that the expertise,
knowledge and experience garnered by Astana from working with MAHB had enabled
it to manage and operate the airport independently.

"During the two years under the Trust Management Agreement (TMA),
Astana, the second largest international airport in Kazakhstan, had
significantly improved its performance," the company said.

Astana also won the Best Airport of Commonwealth of Independent States in
2007, for the category of passenger traffic of more than one million passengers
per year.

This increase in passenger traffic and the award received by Astana
International Airport is further evidence that MAHB had met the
objectives of the TMA.

MAHB’s involvement in ISGIA officially began on March 19, 2008 when the
Implementation Agreement for the realisation of the ISGIA Terminal Building and
its Complementaries through a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Model, was signed
between the Government of Turkey and the consortium.

The BOT project involved the construction of a new international airport
terminal building with a passenger capacity of 25 million in 18 months, besides
managing the existing domestic and international terminals.

MAHB's role was to provide expertise in the area of operation and management
of the Airport.

SGIA is the second airport in Istanbul with two terminals, covering an area
of 3,300 acres.

After completion of the new terminal, the current international
terminal will be converted to an all domestic terminal subsequent to
construction of new terminal.

The development of the ISGIA comprised the construction of a new terminal
buliding with a total area of 180,000 sq m. The development work also
included a four-storey car park building with 4,718 parking lots and a
six-storey hotel with 128 rooms.

As an airport operator, MAHB took a minimum equity stake of 20
per cent in the joint venture.

The total concession fee is 1.93 billion euro (about RM9.7 billion) and
is structured over a 20-year concession period, with no concession fees payable
in first three years.

-- BERNAMA