newstodate.aero
Apr 11, 2019 (newstodate): Managing Slovenia's Maribor Edvard Rusjan Airport since 2016, the Chinese operator SHS Aviation is pulling out.
In December 2016, the Chinese company took over the airport in a public tender process, and SHS Aviation inked a fifteen-year agreement to manage and develop the airport.
The big idea was to develop the airport to serve as a hub for incoming Chinese tourist traffic, but the operator failed to deliver - and now claims that its efforts were hindered by Slovenian bureaucracy's slow progress in developing the necessary zoning of the area to allow for the planned developments.
Slovenia earlier made repeated, but failed, efforts to attract bids for managing the airport, the country's second-largest.
With the Chinese operator, visions comprised handling of 1.54 million passengers and 82,000 tonnes of cargo by 2022, rising to handling of two million passengers and 160,000 tonnes of cargo by 2028.
Instead, the Chinese partner is now leaving Maribor by July 15, 2019.
-With regard to the continued operation of the airport after the expiration of the concession, discussions and coordination are in progress to find the most appropriate solution, the Slovenian Transport Ministry optimistically says in a release commenting on the issue.
In December 2016, the Chinese company took over the airport in a public tender process, and SHS Aviation inked a fifteen-year agreement to manage and develop the airport.
The big idea was to develop the airport to serve as a hub for incoming Chinese tourist traffic, but the operator failed to deliver - and now claims that its efforts were hindered by Slovenian bureaucracy's slow progress in developing the necessary zoning of the area to allow for the planned developments.
Slovenia earlier made repeated, but failed, efforts to attract bids for managing the airport, the country's second-largest.
With the Chinese operator, visions comprised handling of 1.54 million passengers and 82,000 tonnes of cargo by 2022, rising to handling of two million passengers and 160,000 tonnes of cargo by 2028.
Instead, the Chinese partner is now leaving Maribor by July 15, 2019.
-With regard to the continued operation of the airport after the expiration of the concession, discussions and coordination are in progress to find the most appropriate solution, the Slovenian Transport Ministry optimistically says in a release commenting on the issue.