New Deadline For Kasteli Airport

The tendering process aimed at the construction and management of a new airport on Crete, in the Kasteli area, has been postponed for the third time and will now run through until 18 October, according to a recent announcement by the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry. The latest deadline was set for 7 June.

Previous deadlines for opening bids and naming a winner were October 2010 and March 2011.

According to the ministry, the award of the 800 billion euro tender was delayed as interested parties had submitted requests in regards to the size of the project and its viability.

Press reports said that among the interested parties are France’s Vinci, the world’s largest construction group and Bouygues, Greece’s Ellaktor, J&P Avax and Archirodon.

The Kasteli airport is to replace Crete’s Heraklio Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” and operate on the standards of Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” with the state holding a 55 percent stake. The winning bidder will have the remaining 45 percent and operate the airport for a period of 35 years.

The government hopes to operate the airport by the summer of 2015.