Operator continues push abroad before Istanbul contract ends
Nigerian airports include those in Lagos and Abuja, people say
TAV Havalimanlari Holding AS, Turkey’s biggest airport operator, is planning to bid for concession contracts for four airports in Nigeria, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The Istanbul-based company, majority owned by Aeroports de Paris, has already submitted a non-binding bid for the airports, which include those in Lagos and Abuja, the people said, asking not to be named because the plan isn’t public. The company is also considering capital expenditures in some of the four airports if it wins the contract, one of the people said.
“I know TAV has made a presentation, but I can’t confirm at this moment if they formally submitted any offer,” James Odaudu, a spokesman at Nigeria’s aviation ministry, said by phone on Wednesday. Companies from the U.K., Germany and Nigeria have also expressed interest in operating the four airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, he said.
Transaction consultants will advise on the timing for formal bidding, as well as on a plan to start a national Nigerian airline, Odaudu said.
TAV operates more than a dozen airports including Turkey’s largest, Istanbul Ataturk. It is seeking to add more airports abroad to its portfolio to compensate for the termination of the concession agreement for Ataturk, its biggest revenue earner, at the end of 2020.
TAV declined to comment when reached for a response on Wednesday.
