The government of Greece has extended the deadline to bid for the Kasteli airport concession in Crete, Greece's largest island, to May 6 2016.

Greece tendered the airport for the first time in 2009. The tender process was canceled in 2011 due to the Greek debt crisis. Now, the tender process for the concession is re-activated and thus far Chinese, French, German and Spanish groups have expressed interest in the airport concession.

Name of the bidders have not been revealed.

Greek Infrastructure Minister Christos Spirtzis said:

“In view of the complexity of project under auction, it has been decided that a longer period is required for further comments on the draft concession contract by interested parties, and it is therefore necessary to extend the deadline.”

The project will be developed on a design, build, finance, operation and maintenance (DBFOM) basis for a period of 37 years. The preferred bidder will build a new airport and the Crete-wide road links to the new facility. The total project investment is estimated at €900 million (US$996.5). 

The new airport is scheduled to replace the existing "Nikos Kazantzakis" Airport at Heraklion, which is the second-biggest airport after Athens airport, handling nearly six million tourists a year.

The project will be located on the south western side of the Hellenic Air Force Base of Kastelli, and it will be constructed over an area of 600 hectares. The new facility, which is expected to be operational by 2018, could handle more than 7 million passengers per year.