Abu Dhabi Airports Company (Adac) says it has selected the consortium of Turkey’s TAV, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) and the local Arabtec Construction as the preferred bidder for the contract to build the midfield terminal building at Abu Dhabi International airport.

Adac is currently in negotiations with the consortium and will finalise all the details of the contract before an official signing in June.

The consortium has been the frontrunner for the contract since it submitted a low bid of AED10.55bn ($2.87bn) for the contract. The price for the contract, which if awarded, will be the largest ever construction contract awarded in the UAE, according to regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

The consortium’s price is about seven per cent lower than the offer of AED11.3bn submitted by Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Kumho Engineering & Construction, both South Korean, Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation and the local Al-Shafar General Contracting Company.

A team of US-based Bechtel Corporation, the local Al-Jaber Group, and Turkey’s Enka submitted a price of AED11.6bn and the consortium of South Korea’s Samsung C&T, the local/Belgium Six Construct Abu Dhabi and the local/Lebanese Arabian Construction Company (ACC) bid AED11.9bn.

The midfield terminal will be built between the two existing runways at Abu Dhabi International airport. The total built-up area will be 630,000 square metres and it will also include a multi-storey car park. The terminal will include 27,000 sq m of retail and food and beverage outlets. It will also comprise 65 contact gates that will be able to accommodate the Airbus A380 aircraft.