TAV Group completes construction and commissions the
Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport
TAV GROUP HAS OPENED THE DOOR TO TUNISIA
TAV FAMILY TURNS A DREAM INTO REALITY IN TUNISIA:
Focused on the opening day since 24 July 2007, the TAV Tunisia Family builds a source of pride on the opposite shore of the Mediterranean!
The Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport, which has opened its doors as a result of the synergy between TAV Construction and TAV Airports, welcomed its first flight on 7 December 2009. The Tunisia Project, which will last for 40 years, from the start of construction, through commissioning, to the end of the operational concession, symbolizes the level of maturity that TAV Construction and TAV Airports have reached.
TAV Tunisia SA, of which TAV Airports Holding has an 85% share, commissioned the Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport for which the company holds the operating rights until 2047. The airport is a source of pride for Tunisia and the first plane landed on 7 December 2009. Construction of the airport was begun by TAV Construction on 24 July 2007 and a total of 500 million Euros have been invested in the project.
A CONSTRUCTION MIRACLE
Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport has been completed in around two years (excluding the period for transfer of land propriety rights) thanks to the efforts of a hardworking team that worked non-stop until the opening day.
The bog land on which it sits, as it is located in one of the rainiest regions of the country, was dried using tunnels before the start of the construction. Two seven-kilometer tunnels were built around the land to carry rain water to the sea. Also, sets were built to carry excess rain water in case of flooding due to a possible rise in sea level. While planning the construction, TAV Construction took into account the average weather figures in the area for the last 1000 years. The team developed a strategy based on the most destructive weather scenarios and after drying the land, increased the altitude of the project from 2 meters to 6 meters above sea level. To do this, 10 million cubic meters of soil was carried from one location to another. After that, 2,800 poles were placed to reinforce the foundation even though there are no earthquakes in the region.
The airport also has the highest control tower in Africa, at 94 meters.
HALUK BÝLGÝ
TAV Tunisia Country Manager
TAV Airports Holding Business Development Manager in Charge of Subsidiaries
THE NEW CENTER OF ATTRACTION FOR NORTH AFRICA
TAV Tunisia Country Manager Haluk Bilgi, with a team of white collar TAV employees, assumed heavy responsibilities during the preparation process for the tender and played an important role in completing the tender process successfully. He indicates that they have invested a great deal of effort, know-how and experience in Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport: "We are proud to have completed and commissioned the Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport successfully. When we came to Tunisia, we were equipped with a wealth of experience in the aviation sector, covering all processes from the pre-tender preparation period, the tender itself and the operation processes. With this experience--fed by the unique synergy between TAV Construction and TAV Airports--we attained success in Tunisia. And now with our operational experience, we have turned Enfidha into North Africa’s most important hub, the most important center of attraction.
ERSEL GÖRAL
TAV Tunisia General Manager
THE FIRST CARGO AIRCRAFT BROUGHT SIX DOLPHINS
“Following our acquisition of Monastir Habib Bourguiba Airport on 1 January 2008, we started the marketing and promotion activities geared towards the Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport in the same year. Our first priority was to develop a passenger profile made up of mainly tourist groups and to add scheduled flights to our airport in Enfidha. To this end, since the day we started our marketing activities, we have been constantly in touch, particularly with flagship airlines, and telling them about Enfidha’s advantages at every opportunity. We are also developing projects to turn our airport into a cargo and logistics center thanks to its proximity to industrial regions and its ease of access thanks to a variety of transportation alternatives. The world’s leading cargo companies are fully confident that Enfidha will develop rapidly and become the shining star of the sector in Tunisia. We received our first cargo aircraft on 10 January 2010, which was carrying six dolphins. It is a very old belief that dolphins bring luck. I think they will bring luck to us as well. ”
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
International Airport / TUNISIA
Facility opening date: November 2009
Facility closing date: May 2047
Terminal capacity (initial phase): 7 million passengers /year
Terminal capacity at the end of four phases: 22 million passengers/year
Control Tower Height: 94 meters (The highest in Africa)
Total indoor area: 130,000 m2
Area of the airport land: 5,800 hectares
Terminal waiting lounge area: 44,000 m2
Terminal area used: 90,000 m2
Number of Check-in desks: 62
Number of passport control booths: 56
Number of luggage carousels: 8
Total Duty Free area: 2,020 m2
Total food court area: 1,660 m2
Number of terminal bridges: 18
Total apron area: 194,500 m2
Total apron capacity: 35
Total parking lot area: 130,000 m2
Parking lot capacity: 1,295 vehicles
Runway length: 3,300 m
Runway width: 60 m
TARGET: 22 MILLION PASSENGERS
The airport has a passenger capacity of 7 million per year for its first phase and this amount will gradually be increased to 22 million passengers in the coming years.
Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport has a 3.3 km long and 60 meter wide runway. This runway can even handle an A380; the largest aircraft in the world.
A POWERFUL MARKETING STRATEGY IS UNDERWAY FOR ENFIDHA
“Due to its passenger profile, marketing strategies for Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport differ from those we have developed for other airports. Just like Monastir passengers, Enfidha passengers are European tourists who come to Tunisia with travel packages. So the marketing efforts are focused mostly on European tour operators and charter airlines. Because air travel to Enfidha is usually a part of weekly vacation packages in summer, we work in cooperation with tour operators, hotel managers, incoming operators, bus companies, charter airlines and the other entities related to these travel packages. Because any problem in any one of these areas might affect the quality of the vacation package as a whole. We set our short-term target as advertising to all tour operators Enfidha and its advantages and, as a result, directing their charter traffic to Enfidha. Our mid-term strategy, on the other hand, is to enable Enfidha gain a larger share of the increase in the number of scheduled flights as a result of the liberalization of air traffic in the country.”
TAV Airports began marketing efforts geared towards the airport at the beginning of 2009. In the short term, 95% of flights at the airport are expected to be charter flights. TAV Airports’ team in Tunisia plans to change this profile to add scheduled flights to the airport at Enfidha. To reach this goal, the team is constantly in connection with flagship airlines, communicating the advantages of Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport at every opportunity.
The team is also organizing activities whereby flagship airlines are encouraged to land on Enfidha and relations with these companies are reinforced. Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport is also expected to start to handle a significant amount of cargo traffic in the near future. Global cargo companies are fully confident that Enfidha will develop rapidly and turn into the shining star of the sector in Tunisia. Enfidha will soon be the stage for an enormous transition.
A SUCCESS STORY: ENFIDHA ZINE EL ABIDINE BEN ALI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
This prestigious project--so important that Tunisia President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali gave it his name--is the first airport that TAV Group has constructed on a “Greenfield” from scratch, including its entire infrastructure.
The first end-to-end project
The first end-to-end project that TAV Construction and TAV Airports has carried out together, beginning from the tender phase, has been completed. Designed by Aeroport de Paris Engineering in 1999 as part of the effort to prepare Tunisia for the new millennium, Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport has been developed as a high priority government project. Later, after the success of the build-operate-transfer model was shown, it was reevaluated. In 2003-2004, the TAV Group passed the preliminary qualification phase and obtained preliminary qualification. In this phase, the Group had to compete with six very strong consortiums. Today, there are only two companies in the world that can provide end-to-end services in this sector: Hochtief and TAV. These two companies design and finance projects, carry out construction and run the facility. However, Hochtief preferred to enter the Tunisia tender as part of a consortium.
Following the preliminary qualification phase, there have been some developments with the competition; forming an alliance with Mubdala, a finance company from the United Arab Emirates, Hochtief merged with SNC Lavalin and Aeroport de Nice to form a consortium. TAV continued the process alone, but with unique experience and a team with a high level of self-confidence. Finally, it reached its goal.
Project finance success
The tender was opened to the public in January 2007 and was won by TAV Airports Holding. It was the company’s strong business plan that enabled the Group to win the tender.
The groundwork for the Tunisia project was laid on 24 July 2007 and the project’s financing, which received awards from prestigious international publications, has been completed successfully as well. Now the world is seeing the power of the TAV Family.
Working like bees at the Enfidha site
A large ground-breaking ceremony was staged on 24 July, 2007 at the 6,000-hectare site on which the Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport was built. It is said that this was the first such ceremony that Tunisia President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has participated in. Construction began on January 2008 as part of the land transfer process.
The first test flight was between Monastir and Enfidha on June 1st 2009. As a test of the navigation equipment and lighting of the runway, this flight was closely watched by the institutions that financed the project and was an important milestone of the project. This kind of test usually lasts 2 weeks, but the tests were completed in four days thanks to the quality of the equipment and installation selected and used by TAV Construction. The date of the test flight was determined at the start of the project and the flight was held on schedule.
The first aircraft lands on 7 December 2009
TAV construction handed over Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport to the management successfully in November of 2009. On 7 December 2009, Tunisia’s source of pride welcomed its first plane and announced the start of a new era in North Africa.
Index
Terminal capacity at the end of four phases: 22 million passengers/year
ETIKETLER: