TAV Airports has signed an agreement with DenizBank for its subsidiary, TAV Milas Bodrum Terminal ??letmecili?i A.Åž to obtain €162 million (US$184.5 million) of long-term bank loan for the development and operation of Milas-Bodrum Airport in Turkey.

DenizBank A.Åž. Bahrain Branch contributed with €74.5 million and DenizBank A.Åž. Bahrain Branch with €79.5 million. Financing package is arranged with a maturity of 16 years. For the bank loan package, Denizbank was advised by Latham & Watkins, Akol & Çakmak and Intervistas, while TAV was advised by Clifford Chance and Sibel Ertekin.

Milas-Bodrum Airport is situated on a peninsula which juts out from the southwest coast of Turkey into the Aegean Sea. The airport has an annual passenger volume of circa 3.9 million and provides services to world-renowned touristic centers. Milas-Bodrum Airport had grown at an average of 15% in 1997-2004 period and 8% over 2003-2014 period annually.

In early August 2014 we reported that TAV Airports started operations of the Milas-Bodrum Airport Domestic Terminal. Following the signing of the concession agreement with DHMI (State Airports Authority), TAV had immediately begun operating the terminal. TAV will also be taking over the International Terminal on September 22nd, 2015. TAV submitted the best offer, €717 million, in the tender process on 21 March 2014.

A new terminal, designed to handle 5 million passengers a year, opened in June 2012. The old terminal, now reserved for domestic flights, is 1 km away, a 15-minute walk across a grassy field.

TAV Airports President & CEO Sani Åžener stated:

"We are glad that we signed a long-term bank loan agreement of €162 million with DenizBank for Milas-Bodrum Airport, which is an important hub of our country. This transaction constitutes a landmark deal in terms of size, importance and serving multiple purposes in the region as a company which operates 14 airports and provides services at 54 airports world-wide together with its service companies. In July 2014, TAV Milas Bodrum took over the domestic terminal's operations from DHMI. Our company will also take-over the rights of International Terminal on October 2015 from the current airport operator. Together with Domestic Terminal, TAV will operate the overall terminal facilities of Milas-Bodrum Airport until end of the 2035. We believe that Bodrum will become the fourth largest city in Turkey within the next 20 years. We are collaborating with all of our stakeholders in order to create a tourism activity all year round. I would like to express my sincere thanks to DenizBank for supporting us with long-term finance loan having confidence in our projects and wish that our financial collaboration would last in our future projects."

Commenting on the subject, DenizBank General Manager Hakan Ate? expressed:

"DenizBank especially focuses on infrastructure projects and financing of the projects within its fields of activity because they constitute the transition economies of our country. Providing finance for Milas - Bodrum Airport project is of high importance for us as it is located in a region which is the attraction center of tourism sector that plays a strategic role in the development of our economy and 2023 vision. We consider Bodrum as an investment destination of critical importance, which reflects the tourism potential of our country both in local and international market in terms of its natural beauty and special location. I am glad of our collaboration with TAV, which is a notable representative of our country at home and abroad. I believe that the project will significantly contribute to the development of the tourism of the region and Turkey."