Administration decides to delay guarantee payments for Istanbul airport

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil KARAISMAILOGLU has said guarantee payments for Istanbul airport will be delayed. Previously, 2020 leases (rents to be paid by concerned companies) were cancelled at airports operated by the General Directorate of State Airports Enterprises

Minister of transport and infrastructure said guarantee payments and rents would be delayed for Istanbul Airport, Turkey’s largest airport, whose passenger numbers are falling and revenue is declining due to the coronavirus pandemic

In reply to a question by media, the Minister explained the revision (rearrangement) regarding cancellation of lease to be paid by shopkeepers operating in concerned airports for 2020 and reduction of lease to be paid for the following 2 years by fifty percent.

According to news shared in media, the Minister said they were preparing a separate arrangement for Istanbul airport. He added this would be on a basis of mutual deduction saying the state would not make guarantee payments and would not receive rent in return. The Minister said that the application in question could be valid for 2 years and the operating period could also be extended in this context.

In 2020, the number of passengers of Istanbul Airport, Turkey’s largest airport with a capacity of 90 million passengers, operated by IGA Airport, decreased by 55 percent, and the number of passengers of 5 airports operated by TAV Airports decreased by 70 percent. The number of passengers in Sabiha Gokcen, where Malaysia Airports operates, fell by 52 percent.

IGA must pay the state $ 1.33 billion annually for Istanbul airport, which it started operating for 25 years in 2019. However, the company has a public guarantee for the annual number of passengers.