A five-company consortium led by Qatar's UCC Holding and comprising three Turkish firms signed a $4 billion deal on Wednesday with the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority to develop and expand Damascus International Airport.
The deal was one of several agreements signed in Damascus during a ceremony attended by Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, worth $14 billion, including infrastructure, transportation and real estate projects aimed at reviving the war-damaged economy.
Turkish companies Kalyon Holding, Cengiz Holding and TAV Construction, along with UCC Holding and Assets Investments from the U.S., will be involved in redeveloping Damascus International Airport, aiming to raise its annual passenger capacity to 31 million within eight years, an Anadolu Agency (AA) report said.
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 and the wider impacts of the second year of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and regional conflicts.
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 U.S.
The agreement includes a 5,000 megawatt (MW) energy project, expected to generate approximately 35 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, supplying a significant share of Syria’s electricity needs.
Chairperson of the board of Kalyon Construction, 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.”
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.
In July, Syria also signed $6.4 billion of investments with Saudi Arabia as it seeks to rebuild after years of civil war.
