Baku / 05/24/19 / Turan: The proposal of the MP Rufat Guliyev about the need to transfer the airport in Lankaran to a foreign company for rent, in particular to a Russian company, caused a great resonance among the public.
The extremely patriotic and populist part of society immediately rearmed, stating the strategic importance of airports and the unacceptability of such a proposal.
It so happened that, at present, constructive suggestions are rarely heard from MPs, and the sensible part of the society immediately appreciated this positively.
Currently, airports in the regions of Azerbaijan belong to AZAL and are unprofitable. In addition to Baku, airports are located in Ganja, Gabala, Zagatala and Lankaran. Regional airports can be said to be inactive. AZAL adheres to the principle of "neither to me nor to others."
However, the practice of leasing an airport to a foreign company is actively used in other countries. A striking example of this is the airports in Tbilisi and Batumi, operated by the Turkish company TAV. The Turkish company since 2005 has operated the airport in Tbilisi. After that, every year the volume of passenger traffic began to increase, reaching 3,808,619 people in 2018. Currently, about 35 airlines of the world fly from the airport of the capital of Georgia.
Since 2007, TAV has also operated the airport in Batumi. At the moment, 10 airlines fly from the air harbor and the flow of passengers in 2018 was 598,891 people, with the airport"s carrying capacity of 600 thousand people.
It should be noted that TAV also manages Riga Airport, where in 2018 passenger traffic amounted to 7,056,099 people through 16 airlines.
And in Turkey itself there is also an example of managing an airport by a foreign company. Sabiha Gokcen Airport is operated by Malaysia Airports.
The airport of the capital of Greece, Athens, is also operated by a foreign company. Since 1996, the airport has been managed according to a concession agreement by Athens International Airport S.A., where 55% of the shares belong to the government of Greece and the rest of the German company Hochtief. In 2012, the management company reduced airport costs for airlines, which led to an increase in flights. Thus, the company chose to benefit from the increased turnover.
This is only a small part of examples of airport management by foreign companies and each experience has been successful. In each case, foreign management led to an increase in airlines operating flights, passenger flow, and lower prices for airline tickets.
Unlike these examples, in Azerbaijan, not only in the regions, but also in the capital, the airport does not function in full force. According to Henrik Hololei, the Director General for Transport and Mobility of the European Commission, in an interview with Turan, the Baku airport operates at 50% of its capacity and the aviation agreement with the European Union will help increase the flow of passengers.
In addition, it should be noted that Azerbaijan is a rare country in Europe, where the airport and the national airline belong to the same company, which is unacceptable in a market economy. Many people express the hope that the separation of the airport from the national air carrier will be reflected in the aviation agreement currently being discussed between Azerbaijan and the European Union.
According to experts, in the proposal of the MP Rufat Guliyev there is one drawback, and this is the fact that he specifically indicated to whom the airport in Lankaran should be transferred. In fact, the government should announce an open tender for the lease of each airport in the regions. Only a private investor, not a monopolist, AZAL will be interested in attracting new airlines, reducing prices and increasing passenger traffic. In the meantime, with this not done, airports in the regions will continue to "gather dust" waiting for passengers. -71D-
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