Almaty International Airport Changes Its Executive

Alp Er Tunga Ersoy has been appointed as the new president of the Almaty International Airport, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange reported.

On September 14, the company’s board decided to discharge Erkal Kadri, a former CEO of the gateway even though in August Almaty International Airport generated about one-fourth of the revenue (EBITDA) that TAV Airports holding got in the first half of the year.

Thanks to its new asset revenue TAV Airports considered the second quarter of 2021 as the best quarter in terms of operational activity since 2019. 

In April 2021 TAV Airports from Turkey and Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund closed the deal over Almaty International Airport. The country’s authorities hope that the new owner will raise the airport’s capacity twofold with the help of $200 million of investments. So far, Almaty Airport is the 15th air harbor in TAV’s portfolio.

After the deal, TAV owns 85% of the airport, including any linked enterprises engaged in fuel and food supply. Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund keeps 15% of shares, which are supervised by VPE Capital. The anchor investor of the fund is Kazyna Capital Management.

The initial price for the airport was $415 million but due to the pandemic and sharp plunge of passenger traffic, Turks were able to negotiate a lower price of $365 million. However, depending on a traffic rebounding rate, a consortium of buyers should pay an additional $30 million in the future.