Istanbul's airport lures new groups

ISTANBUL

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and Turkey’s TAV Holding are in talks with India’s GMR Infrastructure Ltd about buying its 40 percent stake in Turkey’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, sources close to the negotiations said yesterday.

Sabiha Gökçen is one of Istanbul’s two airports, located on the Asian side of the city, and handled 15.7 million passengers in the first ten months of 2013.

Malaysia Airports, Turkish firm Limak and GMR Infrastructure acquired the operating rights of the airport in 2007 for 20 years for 1.93 billion euros ($2.62 billion).

TAV, GMR and Limak declined to comment, while officials from Malaysia Airports could not immediately be reached.