The Kurdish autonomous area of northern Iraq is witnessing growing international aviation activity. Charter flights to London, Frankfurt, Amman and Dubai have all been launched, while Royal Jordanian and Kurdistan Airways have regular services to and from Irbil. Unlike Baghdad airport, passengers are able to obtain visas on arrival in Irbil.

Irbil airport is considered crucial to opening up the landlocked area to investment and has been undergoing an estimated $300 million expansion. The project, which has moved into the second phase, centres on the construction of a greenfield airport north of the existing terminal building. The airport, to be built in four phases over 30 years, will have ultimate capacity of about 4 million passengers and 35,000 tonnes a year of cargo. The new airport will initially have capacity of about 1.5 million passengers a year when it opens in late 2007.

The airport will have a 4.8-kilometre-long runway with a width of 75 metres to accommodate Europe's Airbus A380 aircraft. It will also include taxiways and aprons, a 16,500-square-metre terminal, a 38-metre-high air traffic control tower, administrative buildings, warehouses, aircraft hangers and infrastructure work. Future phases include the construction of hotels and commercial space.

A Turkish joint venture of Mak-Yol and Cengiz is the contractor. The UK's Scott Wilson completed the masterplan and is the project manager. The existing airport will be used for domestic flights once the new facility is completed. Lebanon's Nur Aviation is in negotiations over the operations contract. www.meed.com/transport