A consortium led by GMR Infrastructure Limited and Malaysia Airports has won the bid to modernise and expand Malé International Airport (MIA) under a 25-year contract.
 
The consortium beat competition from other short-listed consortia that included an alliance between TAV Airports Holding and Aéroports de Paris, plus another Indian infrastructure and aviation powerhouse, GVK, in partnership with Zürich Airport.
 
The GMR-Malaysia Airports alliance will take a controlling stake in Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL), which manages Malé International Airport. The consortium will pay US$78 million upfront, 1% of profits per year (until 2014) and 10% of profits from 2015 to 2035.
 
GMR said: “MIA is the gateway to the idyllic and enchanting Maldives and is one of the fastest growing airports in the region. With its tourism potential and exponential growth in passenger movement, MIA is an extremely profitable boutique airport with a high revenue model. Malé is the prime destination for tourist traffic from Europe in the entire region.”
 
The company added: “Incidentally, this is the second airport that GMR has taken up in Maldives as they had previously signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Maldives for the modernisation and operation of the Hanimaadhoo airport situated in the Northern Islands of Maldives. With this, the group now has five airports in its portfolio and it reinforces the group’s deep commitment in the infrastructure space and for the region of South Asia in particular.”
 
GMR and Malaysia Airports are also partners in the consortium that operates Sabiha Gökcen International Airport in Istanbul.
 
The Maldives government employed the services of the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group which advises on infrastructure projects, to help it find an investor.