Turkish airport operator eyeing Africa, Balkans

By Belgin Yakisan Mutlu

ANKARA (AA) - TAV Airports, Turkey’s leading airport operator, has shown a keen interest in projects in Africa and the Balkans.

Sani Sener, CEO of the company, said he has been monitoring ongoing projects in these regions.

"If they coincide with TAV's strategic and financial goals, we can add them to our portfolio."

Saying that TAV is looking for passenger growth, Sener said they have marked Africa as a "leading market" and the Balkans and Central Asia as "developing markets".

"We could also take over operation of the Almaty Airport [in Kazakhstan] in this quarter, which means the number of airports we operate globally will reach 15.

"Currently, 40% of our turnover is coming from abroad," he added.

Last year in May, the company announced an agreement to buy Almaty Airport, the main gateway into Kazakhstan.

Stating the company's employment policy, he said every 1 million increase in passenger numbers creates employment for 3,000 people in total.

However, losses estimated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) amid the pandemic grew from $90 billion to $140 billion.

"In terms of the number of passengers, levels equivalent to 2019 will be seen in 2023. This year and 2022 will definitely be better than 2020, but I hope we can catch up 2019 in 2023. All this depend on the vaccine and the benefits of the vaccination."

Providing integrated services in all areas of airport operations, with a global footprint at 100 airports in 30 countries, TAV Airports served 218 million passengers in 2019 globally.

Through its subsidiaries, TAV is active in airport service businesses, including duty-free, food and beverage, ground handling, IT, private security, and commercial area management.

*Writing by Yunus Girgin in Ankara