Egypt’s government is conducting a strategic study to explore models for airport privatisation, before commencing a pilot project which is expected to start with Hurghada airport.
Speaking during a sectoral UK mission in London on 3 February, Egyptian minister of civil aviation Sameh Ahmed El-Hefny said the government will work with its advisor, IFC, to understand the privatisation options.
“IFC will help us during the pilot to reach a good way of tendering this project,” he says, adding that the organisation will give “confidence [to] the market that we’re working in a very transparent way”.
The government has earmarked 11 airports for the privatisation study.
But El-Hefny says Cairo airport, the capital hub, “is not included in the study”. He says Cairo – which has “reached maximum capacity” and “urgently” needs a fourth terminal to handle another 30 million passengers – will be the subject of a further privatisation analysis.
“We need to gain some experience from the pilot project, and proceed after that,” he says.
El-Hefny says the initial pilot will commence in about five or six months, if a formal launch proceeds in February.
The government will “most probably” start with Hurghada airport, he says, adding that it needs “a lot of investment” such as a new terminal.
“Everybody’s aware that this is the future,” says El-Hefny. “We are looking to proceed in same direction [as other major airport privatisations].
“This process is coming finally to the start-up phase. We are fully ready, we’ve made a lot of preparation, and been visited by most of the big names in this industry for managing airports.”
Egypt’s government aims to expand airport capacity to 100 million annual passengers by the end of the decade, around double the current level.
