TUNISIA TO UNVEIL ENFIDHA BEN ALI AIRPORT

UNCLAS TUNIS 000890 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB/TRA, EEB/EPPD, AND NEA/MAG STATE PASS USTR (BURKHEAD) USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/ONE (MASON) CASABLANCA FOR FCS (KITSON) LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER FRANKFURT FOR FAA ATTACHE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON EINV ETRD TS SUBJECT: TUNISIA TO UNVEIL ENFIDHA BEN ALI AIRPORT -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On December 4, Enfidha Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali Airport is set to receive its inaugural flight. Constructed in only 24 months, the airport is located 100 kms south of Tunis and is significantly larger than Tunis-Carthage International Airport. The first of four terminals has a capacity of seven million passengers. The entire project, to be completed in phases by 2036, is set to accommodate 25 million passengers per year and will be the largest airport in North Africa. Enfidha Ben Ali Airport was built by the Turkish company TAV and partially financed by the African Development Bank. TAV will operate it on a 40-year concession. Valued at 550 million euros, this is the largest single foreign investment in Tunisia. Designed mostly for charter flights bringing European tourists to package resorts in the area, the airport will absorb traffic phased out from nearby Monastir airport and will eventually open to regularly scheduled commercial flights. The question remains, however, whether there will be sufficient demand to meet an airport of such a scale. End summary. -------------- An International Airport in 24 Months -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The inaugural flight of Tunisia's Enfidha Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali Airport is set to arrive from Europe on December 4. The airport, whose construction took only 24 months, is situated 100 kms south of Tunis and 40 kms in either direction from the tourist cities of Hammamet and Sousse. It is next to the main highway, a north-south railroad, and near the site of a deepwater port set to begin construction in 2013 (the tender has not yet been issued). Econoff visited the Enfidha airport as part of a delegation from a conference organized by the African Development Bank. ¶3. (SBU) The new airport boasts 62 check-in counters, 18 passenger boarding bridges, eight baggage claim carousels, a presidential wing, and a two-mile runway capable of accommodating the Airbus 380. With a capacity of seven million passengers annually, Enfidha Ben Ali is far larger than the Tunis-Carthage International Airport, which has a five million passenger capacity. The airport has underground fuel tanks and draws energy from a co-generation plant on premises. It was built in record time thanks to twenty-four hour shifts and over 50 different contractors from France, Finland, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Egypt. Only one of four terminals is built -- the other three will be built in stages with completion of the entire project (including an additional runway) slated for 2036. The control tower, which is nearly 300 feet high, will service all four terminals and is currently operating the nearby airport of Monastir remotely. When finished, Enfidha Ben Ali Airport will be the largest airport in the Maghreb. ¶4. (SBU) The Turkish company TAV developed the project with a 40-year build-operate-transport concession, with most revenues returning to TAV but some to the GOT. According to airport officials, the Tunisian government only provided road, electricity, sewage and telecom infrastructure and no actual funds for the project. When announced in 2007, the price tag was set at 400 million euros, but the final cost ended up being 550 million euros, making it the largest single foreign investment in Tunisia. The African Development Bank financed 70 million euros of the project. Even so, TAV Tunisie, TAV's local subsidiary, was forced to sell shares in early 2009 to come up with additional capital in the face of the global credit crunch. -------------- Will there be enough passenger traffic? -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The current capacity of the terminal is seven million passengers -- enough, according to airport officials, to capture the current 4.5 million charter flight passengers that are flying into Monastir airport (40 minute drive south of Enfidha). Monastir airport reached capacity in 2005 and has been saturated since. According to officials, flights will be diverted from Monastir to Enfidha as soon as it is fully operational. When the four terminals are built, the airport will have a capacity of over 25 million passengers annually and will be poised to serve as a regional air hub. TAV officials said 15 percent of traffic will be commercial, starting with Turkish Air and Egypt Air flights. Diet Enfidha, an Italian company that owns land for industrial parks near the airport, has plans for a hotel/tourism complex based on expected demand. However, due to the distance between the capital and Enfidha, it is unlikely the airport will replace Tunis-Carthage International Airport in the near or mid-term. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Enfidha Ben Ali Airport's installations and short construction time are impressive and speak to the government's full support of the initiative. Since its inception, this has been a presidential priority; the President was present at its inception and warmly welcomed a foreign investment of such magnitude. It is not clear, however, whether a major ceremony will be held for the first charter flight. The big question remains whether the ambitious plans of 25 million passengers a year will bear fruit, as charter flights alone are unlikely to rise so precipitously even if the tourism industry expands. Its distance from the capital and other major economic centers could mean Enfidha's modern transit lounges remain largely empty. DESJARDINS