Saturday, Aug 15, 2009
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has awarded seven contracts for the expansion of King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah.
The contracts involve mainly site preparation for the airport's expansion which is being implemented in three phases.
When completed, the international airport will have four new terminal buildings, a high-speed rail link and a capacity of up to 80 million passengers a year.
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has approved a budget of four billion Saudi riyals (Dh3.9 billion) to build the airport.
The earthworks contracts, amounting to 375 million riyals, went mainly to local companies.
They include contracts for temporary support services, such as making available ground support equipment, demolition and moving of radio signal sites, and land filling works.
According to a GACA source, a number of local companies are engaged in ground works for the expansion project. They include Saudi Binladin Group and Almabani General Contractors.
Almabani General Contractors is the general contractor that will handle the upgrading of the airfield facilities.
The company will upgrade the existing runways, aprons and several other facilities for the aircraft.
A GACA source said the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.
The first phase of construction will raise capacity to 30 million passengers a year from the current 15 million.
The expansion includes aircraft hard stands and paved areas, lighting, fuel delivery systems and storm water drainage.
There will also be a new support services building, renovation of the existing South and North terminals and upgrades of the existing runway and airfield systems to accommodate aircraft as big as the Airbus A380.
The three stages will be marked by capacity increases to 30 million, 60 million and 80 million passengers per year.
Based on current traffic increases, the existing South Terminal will need to serve about 21 million passengers per year over the next 20 years to meet growing demand.
The project has reached the final stages of planning and design.
The four new crescent-shaped passenger terminals will be located to the south of the current international terminal which will undergo renovation at the same time, the source added.
By Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Correspondent
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
