Turkey, Qatar ink deal to jointly operate Kabul Airport

[Foinikas]

What about Dostum?

 

[khansaheeb]

right sir but i did not see any news of hilton in OP . no sane company will invest in 5 star hotel in kabul these days .

As long as Talibs can stay in 5 star luxury I am sure they will allow it and protect it.

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan International Airlines F-27 Fokker At Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, 1967-68 (c).

 

[Sal12]

Why Kabul airport only. Why not all of Afghanistan

 

[Tshering22]

The continuation of the operation of the Kabul airport is very important for the continuation of the international aid and the airline trade of Afghanistan. The local government in Afghanistan needs to learn about these airport operations and train qualified personnel as soon as possible.

Any ideas which airport consortium will manage the airport from Turkey's side? Will it be a TAV subsidiary?

 

[dBSPL]

@Tshering22 Afghan local government announced that it would receive offers from countries that wanted to cooperate with the Kabul airport, which it could not put into operation. In the past weeks, there was a report that Turkey agreed with the UAE on this issue and made an offer together. However, it was announced later that this news was not true, that Turkey had a positive approach to Qatar's offer and would be included in this offer. Due to some security risks, I consider that these sub elements may not be private companies(such TAV), but government institutions.

Afghanistan can choose this partnership, or it can choose another consortium/offer. The only thing that matters is the opening of Kabul airport as soon as possible and the resumption of international aid. In addition, sufficient number of Afghan workforce should be trained in releted areas as soon as possible.

 

[ghazi52]

Turkey, Qatar await Taliban green light to run airports

AFP
28 Dec 2021

ISTANBUL: Private Turkish and Qatari companies have agreed to jointly operate five airports in Afghanistan, although they are still waiting to reach a final deal with the Taliban, officials said Tuesday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that a "memorandum of understanding" had been inked in Doha earlier this month, covering Kabul and four other airports in the war-ravaged country.

Cavusoglu said the United Arab Emirates, which operated the civilian part of Kabul airport before the Taliban stormed back to power after two decades of civil war, also expressed an interest in joining the Turkish and Qatari companies.

He said the issue was discussed during Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed's visit to Ankara in late November.

"They said 'maybe we can run work trilaterally' but there was never any concrete proposal," said Cavusoglu.

"We haven't presented any proposal to them either. But operating the airport briefly appeared on the agenda."

Turkish and Qatari officials have said little about the details of the memorandum of understanding, refusing to say which companies were to be involved.

Responding to mounting speculation that a deal may be imminent, Afghan civil aviation ministry spokesman Imamuddin Ahmadi told AFP on Tuesday that "no deal has been signed yet".

The Taliban have already rejected Turkey's offer to provide security for Kabul airport, which offers an escape route for civilians seeking to flee the impoverished country, as well as a way for humanitarian aid to reach Afghanistan.

Cavusoglu has stressed that no deal can be reached until the hardline Islamist group allows a trusted foreign operator to secure the airport terminal while the Taliban protects its perimeter.

 

[Tshering22]

@Tshering22 Afghan local government announced that it would receive offers from countries that wanted to cooperate with the Kabul airport, which it could not put into operation. In the past weeks, there was a report that Turkey agreed with the UAE on this issue and made an offer together. However, it was announced later that this news was not true, that Turkey had a positive approach to Qatar's offer and would be included in this offer. Due to some security risks, I consider that these sub elements may not be private companies(such TAV), but government institutions.

Afghanistan can choose this partnership, or it can choose another consortium/offer. The only thing that matters is the opening of Kabul airport as soon as possible and the resumption of international aid. In addition, sufficient number of Afghan workforce should be trained in releted areas as soon as possible.

Technically speaking, I doubt that the current afghan government is familiar with concepts like SPVs and consortiums. It is most likely that you will have to form a JV with Qatar Civil Aviation authority in order to operate this airport.

Kabul Airport is used to be a major international airport that needs to be reactivated if any sort of air connectivity has to be maintained with that country. Government-managed airports are very inefficient (unless they are corporatized as public companies on stock markets), making private consortiums the only practical business option.