Indian airport operators GMR, GVK Group eye Chicago's Midway International
04 Jul 2008
Mumbai: India's GMR and GVK groups, the country's top two airport developers and operators are set to bid for the privatization programme of Chicago's Midway International Airport, company officials have hinted. The bids will be made in consort with other international partners, officials from both the groups said. The bids may entail financial commitments of around $1 billion (Rs4,300 crore), according to banking sources.
Under the privatization plan of the Chicago airport, the private developer will have long-term exclusive rights to operate the airport and collect all revenues associated with the operation of Midway, including aeronautical, leases, passenger facility charges and federal grants, subject to Federal of Aviation Authority, or FAA, rules.
The agreement period is expected to be at least 50 years.
Though the bigger airport in the city is the famed O'Hare International Airport, owned by the Illinois state, Midway handled nearly 20 million passengers last year.
The Bangalore-based GMR Group has already secured an international project, when it won a 20-year operations right to the Istanbul-located Sabiha Gökcen International Airport earlier this year. The group may also be in line to bid for other projects in South Africa, Prague in the Czech Republic and St Petersburg in Russia.