TAV Airports has signed an agreement with Limak Holding for the acquisition of its 40% share in Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport (ISG) located in Turkey.

TAV Airports CEO & President Sani Åžener stated:

Becoming a partner at Sabiha Gökçen Airport is a bold strategic move for TAV, as Atatürk Airport is planned to be closed when the new airport will be put into service in Istanbul. It is the responsibility of TAV senior management to anticipate the termination of our Atatürk Airport operation by finding the opportunity to extend our footprint in Istanbul and to benefit fully from Istanbul's traffic growth potential until at least 2030.

Throughout the years, we have built a network of airports that are operated by TAV with a collaborative approach in Skopje, Ohrid, Tbilisi, Batumi, Riga, Enfidha, Monastir, Ankara, Izmir, Bodrum, and Gazipa?a. Especially, we have created a very strong synergy between Istanbul and Medinah.

Sabiha Gökçen Airport was put into service in 2001. In July 2007 the consortium of Limak Holding, GMR Group and MAHB was selected as the preferred bidder for upgrading and maintaining the airport for a period of 20 years.

This year GMR Infrastructure sold its 40 % equity stake in ISG and LGM Tourism, for €225 million.

Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport is one of Istanbul's two airports. It si located on the Asian side of the city. The airport served to 15.5 million passengers with 32% increase in the first 8 months of this year compared to the same period of last year.

The capacity of the airport is planned to be increased with the construction of a new runway and additional parking places for the aircrafts. Moreover works are underway to connect Kad?köy-Pendik metro line to the airport.