Kuwait’s General Directorate of Civil Aviation has awarded the local Mohammed Abdulmohsin al-Kharafi & Sons General Trading & Contracting a KD47m ($164m) contract for building work at Kuwait International Airport.

The contract covers the construction of administrative buildings, car parks and two fire stations.

The contract was tendered in June 2009, and Kharafi was selected for the contract in January although the award was postponed in February (MEED 8:2:10).

The contract is one of several deals to expand facilities at the airport.

Contractors submitted bids for a contract comprising runway work, aircraft hangars and approach roads in early August 2009.

A consortium of Kuwait’s Alghanim International General Trading & Contracting Company with Australia’s Gulf Leighton was the low bidder for the contract with a price of KD140m.

In late November 2009, the aviation authority selected UK-based architect Foster & Partners to design a second passenger terminal at the airport (MEED 30:11:09).

The planned $747m terminal will have a capacity of 13 million passengers a year, bringing the airport’s total capacity to almost 20 million passengers a year.

The airport’s current passenger capacity is 6 million. The second terminal is due to open in November 2016.