There Will Be a Multimodal Cargo Hub in Almaty Airport

TAV Airports Holding plans to create a multimodal cargo hub on the territory of Almaty International Airport JSC. This was reported by the press office of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan.

«We are interested in this project and are involving our subsidiary company which specializes in the creation of such hubs in airports of various world countries,» stated Fatih Ömür, general director for business development at TAV Airports Holding.

The issue of construction of a cargo hub was touched upon during the meeting of Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Sultanov with representatives of the TAV Group investor consortium and Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund C.V. The sides have also discussed expanding terminal potential at the Almaty airport.

The acquisition of 100% of shares in Almaty International Airport JSC by the consortium should be finished within the upcoming months.

The airport’s administrators have also declared being ready to begin joint work within all existing platforms which operate to increase the export of goods and air service. The sides have agreed to establish close collaboration for implementation of cargo projects.

As a reminder, the government of Kazakhstan allowed the carve-out of 100% of shares of Almaty International Airport to the Kazakhstani subsidiary of the Turkish TAV Airports Holding.

The holding signed a contract on joint acquisition of 100% of Almaty International Airport’s shares with its consortium partner, VPE Capital, for $415 million.

The share of TAV Airports will be no less than 75%, and transfer of shares will be carried out after conclusion of all legal procedures. The company plans to invest $150 million into the expansion of the international terminal in the Almaty airport, which is to open in the second quarter of 2022.

TAV Kazakhstan LLP was registered with judicial authorities on February 10, 2020; its founder is Almaty Airport Investment Holding B.V. TAV Airports Holding owns Istanbul Atatürk Airport. The company operates terminals in Latvia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, and together with its French partner ADP operates in 40 airports around the globe.

The Almaty airport, the largest in Kazakhstan, was built in 1935. The only shareholder of the company is Venus Airport Investments B.V., registered in Amsterdam. In 2019, the airport served over 6.4 million passengers, 13% higher than in 2018. According to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange’s data, Venus Airport Investments B.V.’s shareholder is the Singaporean Steppe Capital Pte. Ltd, which is controlled by Timur Kulibayev (entrepreneur and son-in-law of Nursultan Nazarbayev).