Kalyon, Cengiz, TAV among companies backing upgrade to Syria’s Damascus International Airport to expand passenger capacity
An international consortium including Türkiye’s Kalyon Holding, Cengiz Holding and TAV Airports has signed a $4 billion agreement with the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority to expand Damascus International Airport, aiming to raise its annual passenger capacity to 31 million within eight years.
The deal marks one of the largest infrastructure projects in Syria in years, despite the country’s prolonged instability following more than a decade of civil war, ongoing Western sanctions and the wider impacts of the second year of genocide in Gaza and more than a thousand days of the Russian war on Ukraine, which started in February 2022.
The consortium also includes UCC Holding from Qatar and Assets Investments from the US.
- Strategic expansion across sectors
According to a statement from Kalyon Holding, the companies involved have carried out global-scale investments in energy, infrastructure and transportation both in Türkiye and abroad. The new airport deal follows a $7 billion strategic cooperation agreement signed last May between the Syrian Ministry of Energy and the same core consortium, including Kalyon Holding, Cengiz Holding, UCC from Qatar and Power International from the US.
That agreement includes a 5,000 megawatt energy project expected to generate about 35 billion kilowatt-hours annually, supplying a major share of Syria’s electricity needs.
- Kalyon: 'We aim to leave a legacy'
Kalyon Holding Chairman Murathan Kalyoncu said the new airport deal reflects the group’s commitment to long-term regional development.
“As a domestic and national company, we have focused on people in every region we have operated in for 81 years and aim to leave a legacy for future generations,” he said.
“We successfully completed the construction of Istanbul Airport, Türkiye’s largest infrastructure project, in a record 42 months with a consortium including Cengiz Holding. We then elevated the airport to a global leadership position as a hub with an annual passenger capacity of 90 million.”
“Now, I wholeheartedly believe that with our management experience, engineering strength, technical competence, and solution-oriented approach, we will make significant contributions to Damascus’s transformation into a regional air transportation hub,” Kalyoncu added. “I hope the massive investments we have undertaken will mark a turning point for Syria and provide significant support for regional development and stability.”
- $14B in foreign investment deals signed
Alongside the airport investment, Syria signed a series of investment memoranda worth $14 billion on Wednesday, covering 12 strategic projects with several foreign firms.
Talal al-Hilali, director of the Syrian Investment Authority, said the agreements include a $4 billion deal with Qatar’s UCC Holding for the Damascus International Airport project, a $2 billion agreement with the UAE’s national investment corporation to build a metro line in Damascus, and a $2 billion contract with Italy-based UBAKO to develop Damascus Towers.
