Public-Private Partnership Stories Jordan: Queen Alia International Airport In 2007 IFC successfully advised the government of Jordan on structuring and awarding a 25-year concession for the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman following a competitive bidding process. The project includes rehabilitating existing facilities, constructing a new terminal with a capacity of 12 million passengers per year, and operating the airport. The concession was awarded to the Airport International Group with a bid of 54.58 percent of gross revenues to the government, the highest revenue-sharing percent- age achieved for similar projects anywhere in the world. This was the first successful airport public-private partnership project in Jordan and the Middle East and the largest private sector investment in Jordan to date. This series provides an overview of public-private partnership stories in various infrastructure sectors, The transaction was supported by funds from the governments of where IFC was the lead advisor. Canada, France, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, the United IFC Advisory Services in Public-Private Partnerships Kingdom, and the United States; as well as the Islamic Develop- 2121 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington D.C. 20433 ment Bank and USAID. ifc.org/ppp BACKGROUND Group—composed of Aéroports de Paris Management (France), Queen Alia has been Jordan’s principal domestic and international the Abu Dhabi Investment Company (United Arab Emirates), airport since it was built in 1983, accounting for more than 97 the Noor Financial Investment Company (Kuwait), EDGO percent of the country’s air traffic. The airport has been unable to Investment Holdings (Jordan), J&P-AVAX (Greece), and meet the sustained growth in air traffic of 7 percent per year since Joannou & Paraskevaides Overseas (United Kingdom and 2000 because of capacity constraints. Cyprus)—won the bid by offering a concession fee averaging more than 50 percent of revenues over the life of the concession. As a result, the government sought to invite private sector The rehabilitation, expansion, and operating agreement was participation for expanding and rehabilitating the airport, signed in May 2007. including the construction of a new 900,000-square foot terminal. This decision was part of a broader strategy by the government to liberalize air transport policies, restructure the civil aviation sector, and improve the competitiveness of Jordan’s airports. EXPECTED POST-TENDER RESULTS • The competitive process led to a winning bid IFC'S ROLE that was nearly double that made by the party The government appointed IFC as its lead adviser for structuring the government had previously been considering and implementing a balanced transaction. The key objectives for for a sole source award. this project were to: • Of the total project cost of $675 million IFC • Increase the airport’s capacity to handle long-term committed $120 million for its own account and traffic growth. helped mobilize up to $160 million in funds from • Develop and enhance Queen Alia’s position as a regional commercial banks. hub airport. • Improve operations and service quality standards in line with • Euromoney Project Finance Magazine gave QAIA international best practices. its Deal of the Year 2007 award and Jane’s gave the • Maximize the value of the project for the government, both airport its Airport Finance Deal of the Year 2007 in terms of financial proceeds and the quality. (Middle East) award. • Eliminate government budgetary support to the airport. • The government will accrue significant concession TRANSACTION STRUCTURE fees and benefit from considerable fiscal savings by Given the inherently complex nature of airport projects, IFC no longer having to subsidize airport operations. organized an international bidding process to select a reputable • With tourism accounting for more than 10 consortium capable of delivering such a project. Each consortium percent of Jordan’s gross national product and was required to demonstrate that it had the requisite experience nearly 45,000 jobs, a larger terminal will help in developing, designing, constructing, operating, and financing promote the country as a regional economic airports of a similar size. Through the prequalification process, and tourist destination. six bidding consortiums comprising a total of more than 25 international investors were qualified. Financial bids were • The project is expected to generate more than evaluated based on the payment of annual concession fees as a $1 billion in foreign direct investment and lead to percentage of gross revenues to the government. The bidder with the creation of 23,000 new jobs over its lifespan. the highest financial bid would be declared the winner. 06/2009 All bidders knew they would have to raise their own financing within six months of the bid award. The centerpiece of the project was to be the construction of a new 900,000 square foot terminal based on preliminary designs by Foster + Partners. The bidders were also asked to undertake certain predefined improvements to existing airport infrastructure, demolish the existing terminal once the new one is built, and manage all airport services. BIDDING Five bids were ultimately received. The Airport International