in Airports
Bahrain has awarded the a joint venture between the UAE construction company Arabtec and Turkey’s airport specialist TAV, the main contract for its $1.1bn airport modernisation programme.
Bahrain’s minister of transportation and telecommunications Kamal bin Ahemd Mohammed (centre) joined the CEO of Baharain Airport Company (BAC) Mohammed AlBinfalah (right) as the Bahrain air show (BIAS) drew to a close, to make the announcement..
“The airport modernisation programme is one of the most important strategic projects for the Kingdom of Bahrain, as the Airport serves all economic sectors and is a gateway for Bahrain to the rest of the world. Once completed, it will increase the Airport’s capacity to 14 million passengers annually,” the minister said.
The project is being finianced by the Abu Dhabi Fund with additional finance from the Bahraini government.
The Aramco/TAV deal includes the construction of the new passenger terminal building, the main services building and aircraft bay. Other contracts signed during the air show included a contract with CIMC from China for the passenger airbridges; a contract for the baggage handling system with Vanderlande from the Netherlands; a contract with L3 Communications from the USA for security screening equipment; and finally a contract with Kone from Finland for the horizontal and vertical transfer systems.
In addition, a contract was also signed on the sidelines of BIAS with SETEC from France for the design of an MRO facility which, when built, will contribute to job creation for Bahrainis.
Albinfalah said: “The signings completed at BIAS 2016 are a historical milestone in the progress of the programme. This is the largest infrastructure project for the Bahrain International Airport in over 30 years and is being executed in line with the highest standards of safety, security, technology and environmental standards. In order to keep up with the rapid pace of progress in the aviation industry.
“We are expecting to complete the project in 2019, and expect to see a three-fold increase in direct flights and numbers of airlines using the new passenger terminal building as a result.”