Tbilisi International Airport

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In September 2005, TAV Urban Georgia consortium was awarded an 11.5 year BOT concession by the Tbilisi International Airport Joint Stock Company to design, finance, construct, and operate the Tbilisi International Airport. TAV took over the operations of the Tbilisi International Airport in November 2005.The contract included constructing a new international terminal; renovating the taxiway and runway; and acquiring the ground handling equipment at the Tbilisi International Airport. The Tbilisi International Airport was the main airport in Georgia. In 2005, it handled around 535,000 passengers. The airport had a 2.8 m passenger/year capacity The project company, TAV Urban Georgia, was a joint venture formed by four companies: Tepe (30 %), Akfen (30 %), Flughafen Wien AG (VIE) (10%) and Urban (30%). TAV had an option to increase the initial duration of the concession from 11.5 years to 15 years by designing, financing and constructing but not operating the Batumi International Airport for $15 million. Initially, in May 2005, the contract for the Tbilisi airport was granted through a competitive tender to a consortium formed by Turkish Celebi Holding, the Belgian-Luxembourg company GTS (Gestion en Technique Speciale) and the US company A&J. However, the contract was canceled in early September 2005 because the Celebi Holding failed to raise the necessary financing for the Tbilisi airport after GTS and A&J withdrew from the consortium. The other companies which took part in the tender were the architecture Giorgi Tukhareli, the Georgian company “Palad Palace” and the sister company of German Takomi “Gluer Aid Pivden”. In 2006, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided a senior loan of USD 27 million to the project while the International Finance Corporation (IFC) committed to co-finance it with a senior loan of USD 27 million. The total project cost was estimated to be $76.5: $51.5 million for constructing a new international terminal and car park, renovating the taxiways and runway and upgrading the emergency services at the Tbilisi airport; $15 million for the construction and modernization works at the Batumi International airport. The construction of the new terminal at the Tbilisi Airport started in January 2006. On February 7, 2007, the new terminal was launched. At the IFC project documents, one of the shareholders for the TAV Urban consortium is Sera. However at the TAV Holding official web site, it is Flughafen Wien AG (VIE). TAV will make $62 million investment for the Tbilisi Airport and will operate it for 10 years. TAV will also invest $15 million at the Batumi Airport. In return for the investment in Batumi, TAV extended the concession period from 10 to 15 years.