Turkish Airlines bids to buy second Istanbul airport

Turkish Airlines is bidding to buy a majority stake in Istanbul’s second airport from Malaysia Airports Holdings, 5 people with the knowledge of the matter said. The airline could buy 80% of Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, also known as ISG, 2 of the people said. Turkish Airlines offered E750m (US$870m) for the stake, one of the people said. If the deal goes through, it’d mark a change in strategy for Malaysia Airports. CE Badlisham Ghazali said in May that the company was looking for a partner to buy a minority stake and that 10 parties were interested. Malaysia Airports was part of a consortium that won a E1.9b (US$2.2b) contract to operate the airport in 2007. In 2013, it agreed to raise its holding in ISG to 60%. <br/>