Egypt has launched an invitation to tender to expand Borg Al-Arab airport near the northern Mediterranean port of Alexandria, Transportation Minister Ibrahim Al-Dumairi told reporters Thursday, August 23.
The government will grant the concession for developing the airport on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The airport opened last year near Alexandria, the country's second largest city after Cairo.
The government wants to make it the largest air cargo hub in northern Africa, and also to boost passenger capacity to serve its tourist industry.
Egypt announced at the beginning of 2000 it was looking to invest two billion dollars in construction and renovation for 26 of its airports.
Under the terms of Egypt's BOT airport contracts, the private company would build and operate the airport, without any ownership rights, before handing it over to Egypt's national aviation authority.
In 1997, the Egyptian government started to seek investors in the airport sector, via BOT contracts of 40 to 50 years in duration. ― (AFP, Cairo)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
