Commission: Fraport Greek Airports Deal in Line with EU Law

Greek government agreements with German-Greek consortium Fraport Greece for the management of regional airports are in accordance with EU law, the European Commission said in a statement released last week.

The concession concerns in total 14 regional airports. The first concession agreement encompasses the Cretan, Continental Greece and Ionian Sea regional airports: Aktion, Chania, Kavala, Kefalonia, Corfu, Thessaloniki and Zakynthos airports. The second concession agreement encompasses the Aegean regional airports, consisting of Kos, Mykonos, Lesvos, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini and Skiathos airports.

The concession agreements were signed in December 2015 and subsequently ratified by the Greek Parliament. Greece then notified them to the Commission in October 2016, seeking confirmation that they do not involve state aid.

According to the Commission statement, the concession contracts meet all market conditions but do not include government aid. It is in the hands of the Greek government, therefore, to finalize the deal, a requirement of its bailout program, the Commission concluded.

Fraport Greece and the Greek government had agreed earlier this year to defer the takeover date to March 15 due to incomplete implementation of technical requirements which were set to ensure a smooth procedure. However, on March 14 it was announced that the transfer of management of the 14 Greek airports to Fraport would be once again delayed. The completion of the process is expected in the coming weeks.