ICBC contribute $3 billion to $7.15 billion syndicated debt financing package for New Istanbul Airport Refinancing Project

Project narrative

On May 25, 2021, IGA Havalimani İsletmesi A.S. (Istanbul Grand Airport) -- a special purpose vehicle and joint venture of Cengiz, Limak, Kalyon, and MNG Mapa -- signed a EUR 5,852,190,000 (USD $7,156,980,000) syndicated debt financing package (consisting of multiple, 12-year term loans) with a group of banks for the for the New Istanbul Airport Refinancing Project. Participants in the syndicate included Ziraat Bankasi AS, Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS, Turkiye Vakiflar Bankasi TAO, Denizbank AS, QNB Finansbank AS, Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Various branches of ICBC reportedly contributed $3 billion in total. The loan proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance loans contracted in 2015 and 2018 for the development of the New Istanbul Airport. The refinancing loan reportedly reduced the interest rate on the previous loans and extended their maturities until 2033. The Istanbul New Airport is being constructed on an area of approximately 76.5m². It will comprise four terminals, six runways, 165 passenger boarding bridges, three technical buildings, eight control towers, six runways, 16 taxiways, and an apron area of 6.5m², with the capacity to accommodate 500 aircraft. The airport features a 42km-long baggage system, with the capacity to handle nearly 30,000 bags per hour. It is also installed with an early baggage storage system for any baggage that arrives early. Unifree Dutyfree will operate the duty-free zone at the airport for 25 years. The 53,000m2 duty-free zone will comprise nearly 1,000 domestic and international luxury brands. The airport will feature a 150,000m² ground services campus and a 1.4 million square metre cargo city. A new hotel, YOTELAIR, is located at the departure floor next to passport control. It consists of 451 cabins with airline-style kiosks, allowing passengers to check-in and check-out themselves. The airport features a new Gayrettepe-Kağıthane-Kemerburgaz-Göktürk-İhsaniye underground line, which became operational in January 2023. The 34km-long metro line allows the passengers to reach the airport in 25 minutes. The project is being carried out in four stages, with an estimated budget of EUR 12 billion ($16.65 billion). The project is being undertaken in four stages. Construction commenced in June 2014. The first stage of the project was completed in October 2018, which has enabled the airport to initially serve 90 million passengers per year. The master plan for the project was developed by Arup while the contract to build and operate the airport for 25 years was awarded to a consortium comprising of five local companies: Cengiz, Mapa, Limak, Kolin and Kalyon, who submitted the highest price bid of EUR 22.152 billion ($30.737 billion) in May 2013. Arup also acted as the technical adviser to the winning consortium during the concession bid stage. The contract for the design of Terminal 1 was awarded to a consortium consisting of Grimshaw, Haptic Architects, and Nordic. AECOM and Pininfarina designed the ATC tower. Istanbul Airport signed an EUR 250 million ($285.8 million) contract with MNG, PTT, Çelebi Ground Handling, HAVAŞ, Sistem Logistics, and Bilin Logistics in July 2017, with regards to the cargo city and the ground services campus. Doka and PERI supplied the formwork and Scaffolding systems for the construction of the new airport. Aksa was contracted to supply and install power generators at the airport. Gali Internacional was subcontracted to supply air starter equipment for the power generators. Helvar provided fully automated, digital, addressable lighting interface (DALI) lighting control system for the Istanbul airport. The airside infrastructure of the Istanbul airport, including three runways, airfield ground lighting, taxiways, drainage systems, and navigational aids, were designed by AECOM. Deltaturk, a Turkish consultancy, supported AECOM as a delivery partner. ADB SAFEGATE was responsible for the airfield ground lighting (AGL) design review and the complete visual guidance approach. Wirtgen Group provided various construction equipment while Yuksel Proje provided construction management and supervision services for the project.