By F. Zois
A draft bill that includes a concession contract for a new airport at the Kasteli site, in Irakleio prefecture of Crete, is headed to Parliament for ratification after the signing on Thursday between the government and the Terna-GMRA Airports consortium.
The development many comes years after the project was first proposed, through the stages of planning, an international tender and successive legal and bureaucratic obstacles.
In numbers, the entire project is worth 1.5 billion euros, with up to 1,500 jobs created during the construction phase. According to a recent study by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), once finished the new airport will generated between 7,000 and 7,500 direct jobs.
The Irakleio region, one of the pre-eminent tourist destinations in Greece, is currently serviced by the outdated Nikos Kazantzakis Airport.
