by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The Greek state officially handed over the control of 14 regional airports to German-Greek consortium Fraport Greece, Greek national news agency AMNA reported on Tuesday.
Under the contract Fraport signed with the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), the company will take over the management, operation and development of the 14 airports for the next 40 years. Fraport paid 1.23 billion euros (1.31 billion U.S. dollars) to the privatization fund for the takeover.
Under the agreement, Fraport will invest more than 300 million euros in the first four years for infrastructure works to build five new terminals at the airports of Thessaloniki, Corfu, Cephalonia, Kos and Mytilene, and to renovate facilities at all airports.
The list of airports includes also very popular tourist destinations such as Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, as well as Skiathos, Zakynthos, Chania, Kavala, Samos and Aktion.
Fraport won an international tender in 2014 in the context of Greece's privatization program under the country's bailout agreements with international lenders.
The company has pledged to improve the quality of services offered and increase passenger numbers. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars).
