Tuesday, May 22, 2012
DUBAI (Dow Jones)--Kuwait plans to spend $6 billion on expanding its airport to accommodate 13 million passengers annually by 2016, a senior civil aviation official said Tuesday,
"Kuwait's government will be financing the $6 billion airport expansions, which the public works ministry will start this year. The project is expected to be completed by 2016," Kuwait's president of civil aviation, Fawaz al Farah, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here.
The expansions include a new $3 billion building, equipped with the latest technology. Another $3 billion will be spent on expanding runways, enhancing the control tower and building a new air traffic control tower, he said.
The oil-rich Arab Gulf state has seen a steady growth in passenger numbers over the past few years, with 8.5 million passengers going through its only international airport in 2011. The official said he expects the number to exceed 9 million in 2012.
The new building will have the capacity to handle 13 million passengers per year, al Farah said. There are also plans to "set up a cargo building at the cost of $150 million and a capacity of 5 million kilograms," he added.
-By Leila Hatoum, Dow Jones Newswires; +971-4-446-1686; leila.hatoum@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
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22-05-12 0919GMT
