The number of passengers served by TAV Airports decreased by 70 percent in the first half of the year due to the impact of commercial passenger traffic coming to a halt due to the pandemic in April and May.
The number of passengers served by TAV Airports decreased by 70 percent in the first half of the year due to the impact of commercial passenger traffic coming to a halt due to the pandemic in April and May. With the gradual elimination of travel restrictions, the company started to serve the passengers again by taking all the measures envisaged at most of the airports it operates.
TAV Airports served a total of 6,8 million passengers, 4,7 million domestic and 11,4 million international, in the first six months of the year. The consolidated turnover of the company during this period was 141,9m euros.
TAV Airports Chief Executive Officer Sani Şener said, “The second quarter of 2020 passed with curfews and travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic all over the world. International passenger traffic in aviation, the sector most affected by travel restrictions, was almost zero in the second quarter. As a result of these restrictions, the number of passengers served by TAV Airports in the first half of 2020 decreased by 70 percent compared to the previous year.
As of today, most of our airports are reopened for commercial passenger traffic. We expect our ports in Georgia, which still serve partially, to be fully opened in September. Madinah Airport was also opened to domestic traffic, but the reopening date of international flights has not been determined yet.
At all our airports, the main issue for the start of the return in international traffic is the abolition of flight bans between countries. Following the countries opening their borders mutually, the increase of passengers started at our airports. Our main market is the United Kingdom and Russia, opposed the re-opened to commercial passenger traffic at the border with Turkey. Covidien-19 exhibits a highly successful practice in slowing the epidemic Turkey is ready to welcome our guests from the European Union. The recovery process will also accelerate with the start of mutual traffic with the EU countries.
As a company, we reacted quickly and decisively to the global crisis we are in. Firstly, it was very important to reduce our expenses. In this regard, we achieved a 32 percent cost reduction. Therefore, I would like to thank especially our employees and our subcontractors doing business. While reducing costs in crisis processes, the most important task of management is to take the most cost-effective measures among stakeholders, partners, investors and employees in the fairest way. We did our best by paying close attention to this issue.
At the same time, the agreements we made in every country for every airport force majeure Based on the 'epidemic disease' which is one of the (force majeure) items, we have made the necessary applications in order to meet our income loss. According to the content of each contract, we also do the necessary work to meet these losses with time extension, rent delay or other methods.
In this period, we are about to complete the acquisition of Almaty Airport, which we announced before Covid-19. We aim to close the acquisition of Almaty Airport by the third quarter. Almaty achieved a significant volume of cargo traffic in the second quarter and showed that it had defensive features in terms of revenue composition. This airport, which has no restrictions such as contract renewal risk and limited operating time, will make a significant contribution to our portfolio. It is also clear that Almaty Airport's New Silk Road will be a very important center for fast cargo operations to be carried out by air. We also observe that existing 6,5 million passengers will increase significantly with new investments. We expect Almaty to have a positive effect on the multipliers used in valuing TAV Airports as the transaction closes and traffic reaches 2019 levels again.
As a company, we entered this crisis with a very strong balance sheet structure. With the power of our balance sheet, we continue to invest in the future of our company with the acquisition of Almaty. We are going through unprecedented historical times, but with the support of our stakeholders, employees and investors, I believe that we will get out of this crisis more strongly than before. I would like to thank all our employees, shareholders and business partners for their endless support that they did not withhold from our company during these difficult times. ” said.
SUMMARY FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL INFORMATION
* TAV Istanbul data are not included in the Turnover and EBITDA. Likewise, Istanbul Atatürk Airport is not included in the number of passengers.
Be the first to comment