Fraport Is Said to Refinance Turkey Loan on Airport Revenue Drop

Fraport AG’s Turkish joint venture is getting a loan of 200 million euros ($235 million) to repay debt for Antalya Airport after terror attacks over the past two years cut revenue, two people familiar with the matter said. The operator and its local partner will use 180 million euros to refinance an existing loan and the balance for its working capital needs, the people said, asking not to be identified because the plan isn’t public. The new loan, secured from Akbank TAS, will mature in 2023 and replace the existing facility due in 2021, the people said. The operator of Frankfurt’s airport and its partner, IC Ictas Insaat AS, secured the initial acquisition loan in 2007 from more than 20 lenders, led by Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS and UniCredit SpA. The venture, Fraport IC Ictas Airport Terminal Investment and Management AS, has been operating the domestic and international terminals of the Antalya airport, the third-largest airport in Turkey, under a $3.2 billion, 15-year contract based on annual rental fees signed with the government in 2007. Spokespeople at Akbank and Fraport declined to comment. Tourist arrivals at Antalya Airport, which feeds the main tourism area in the country, fell 32 percent in 2016 to 18.8 million, after declining by 2 percent in 2015, according to government data. Terror attacks—including a failed coup in July last year—resulted in a record stretch of declines in tourist arrivals, one of the economy’s main industries.