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

According to sources, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said:

“The binding financial offers for the new international airport of Heraklion, Crete, in Kasteli will be submitted in late July”.

We informed last February that the deadline for submitting proposals for the project had already been extended to May 6th. 

As we also reported, Greece tendered the airport for the first time in 2009. The tender process was canceled in 2011 due to the Greek debt crisis. The tender process for the concession was then re-activated in 2014. 

Companies that submitted expressions of interest in 2014 included the following teams:

• Ellaktor Group / Vinci Airports;
• GEK Terna / EGIS Projects / ACS Group;
• J&P Avax / Bouygues / Aéroports de Paris (ADP); and
• Corporación America / Metka.

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 €850 million (US$941 million). 

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.