SPECIAL REPORT: ECONOMICS & FINANCE
Investing in Almaty Airport World discovers that the future for Kazakhstan’s Almaty Airport looks bright under the ownership of TAV Airports.
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lmaty Airport is under new ownership after global airport operator, TAV Airports, completed its acquisition of an 85% stake in the Kazakhstan gateway earlier this year. The deal is expected to take the gateway to the next level in terms of its facilities, growth potential and ambition to become the undisputed leading hub for Central Asia. A record 6.4 million passengers (+13%) passed through Almaty in 2019 to cement its status as Kazakhstan’s busiest airport, the upward trajectory being helped in no small way by the growth of home-based flag carrier, Air Astana. Indeed, Air Astana’s expanding route network and the addition of new international routes have made Almaty Airport (ALA) one of the region’s fastest growing gateways for the last decade. The global pandemic has, of course, had an impact on traffic at Almaty Airport, which saw its passenger numbers drop to 3.6 million in 2020 due to a significant reduction in flights and travel restrictions as a result of COVID-19. However, with traffic levels beginning to rise again, the need for new infrastructure to ensure that the airport is capable of meeting anticipated future demand remains very much front and central for ALA’s new owners, who have pledged to invest around $200 million on a new terminal. Air Astana’s president and CEO, Peter Foster, certainly believes that TAV’s ownership of Almaty Airport and promise of future
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investment in new facilities can only be a good thing for the gateway, his airline and Kazakhstan. “Air Astana welcomes the entry of TAV with whom we work with at several airports around our network, and we look forward to building a solid business relationship with them,” enthuses Foster.
Doing things differently in Almaty A member of Groupe ADP, TAV now owns 85% of Almaty Airport and its associated fuel and catering businesses, with the Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund – managed by VPE Capital and backed by Kazyna Capital Management – holding the remaining 15% stake. Almaty is the first airport in TAV’s portfolio where the company owns the airport instead of holding a time limited concession. So why has it decided to do things differently in Kazakhstan and break from the concession model that has proved hugely successful for it across the globe over the last 20 years? TAV Airports president and CEO Sani ùener, says: “Our strategy is to invest in projects that are in line with our financial capabilities and operational abilities. “Traditionally, airports are strategic and long-term investments developed and managed by the public sector. In the last 30 years, the concession or public-private-partnership (PPP) model has proved to be an effective solution when the states wanted to direct resources elsewhere. Simultaneously, with the advent of
