Turkish owner of Almaty airport to beef up its investments

The Turkish company is going to invest millions of dollars into the airport’s infrastructure / Photo: Shutterstock, photo editor: Dastan Shanay

Turkish TAV Holding will invest $362 million in the Almaty airport it controls over the next five years, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport reported on its website. The number one priority is to raise wages for airport workers and reconstruct the tarmac.

These tasks are part of a memorandum of cooperation signed by the ministry and TAV Holding. The document, for instance, stipulates a 25% average salary increase for airport personnel within the year. Moreover, the company is expected to create an additional 600 jobs by the end of the year and build training and medical centers for the personnel. The latter will also be open to people residing near the airport.

In addition to the new tarmac, TAV Holding plans to build a parking ramp for cargo carriers, renovate the domestic destinations terminal, upgrade warehouses and build a hotel.

TAV Holding has controlled Almaty International Airport since 2020 (previously, it was owned by a Singapore-based entity owned by tycoon Timur Kulibayev). The holding itself is owned by Turkish Groupe ADP, which specializes in airport management, and Tepe Insaat Sanayi, a large investor in various infrastructural projects across the globe. In June 2024, a new $780-million international terminal was opened at Almaty Airport.

TAV Holding also controls airports in Turkey, Croatia, Georgia, Latvia, North Macedonia, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. In the first quarter of this year, TAV Holding reported €45.6 million in losses, despite a 16.6% increase in revenue. According to the company, this was due to a decline in air traffic at Turkish and Saudi airports during Ramadan, which fell in March this year.