From Nasriah Darus

ISTANBUL, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- Turkey is inviting local and foreign firms to take part in its airport enhancement projects to meet the bustling growth in the country's aviation sector, its prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said.

To this end, he said the government was considering building a third airport in Istanbul for which there would be opportunities for foreign investors.

He said that the aviation sector has developed tremendously in the country with many airports recording rapid growth in terms of passenger traffic and airlines patronising these airports.

He said the development of the airports was not for luxury but to cater to the needs of the people with the projects to be based on the build-operate-transfer model.

"Turkey has liberalised foreign investment rules in the aviation sector," he said at the launching of the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISGIA), the newest airport of the bicontinental city here on Saturday.

The new terminal at ISGIA, was developed by a consortium in which Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) participated in.

The consortium, which also comprised GMR Infrastructure Limited of India and Limak Group, a Turkish company, developed, managed and now operates the ISGIA.

The facility, located Asian side of the bicontinental city, is named after Sabiha Gokcen, the first female combat pilot in the world.

ISGIA has been the airport which chalked up the biggest growth rate between 2002 and 2007.

Passenger traffic is exxpected to reach 25 million by 2023.

MAHB has a 20 per cent equity in the consortium involved in building the new terminal which is estimated to cost 343 million euro and will cater for 10 million passengers per year.

The Prime Minister said the Turkish government was looking into the possibility of setting up a third airport in Istanbul because of the constraints at the Ataturk International Airport on the European side.

He said the government was also planning to construct a second runway for the ISGIA and four airports had been identified in the ehancement projects.

Also present at the inaugration were Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri and MAHB chairman Tan Sri Dr Aris Othman.

Earlier, during a press conference held prior to the inaugration, Limak chairman Nihat Ozdemir the company would consider bidding for any opportunity that may arise and plans to bring its partners including MAHB in the consortium to join the project based on their good relations.

Besides being a shareholder in the consortium, MAHB is also involved in the provision of advisory and consulting services in the airport master plan and detailed design study, especially in the operational readiness and airport transfer exercise.

Currently, MAHB is also involved in projects at the new Hyderabad International Airport and the Delhi International Airport in India.

-- BERNAMA