Greece’s leftist government yesterday signed its first big privatisation deal with German airport operator Fraport, awarding it a €1.2 billion contract to lease and manage 14 regional airports.

“We signed the deal today,” the head of Greece’s privatisation agency (HRADF), Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters.

Fraport and its Greek partner, energy firm Copelouzos, has agreed to pay annual rental fees of about €23 million for the 40-year lease of airports in popular tourist islands, including Corfu and Santorini.

The consortium said in a statement it will take over the operations of the airports in autumn 2016, when it will also pay the agreed sum and invest a total of €330 million to refurbish facilities by 2020.

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