Iraq’s Transport Ministry has invited firms to prequalify for the construction of the new Middle Euphrates airport.

The airport is being built near Karbala, which is southwest of the country’s capital Baghdad.

The facility will include a domestic and international airport with an annual capacity of six million passengers. It will be financed by Iraq’s general federal budget.

The construction contracts have been grouped into three packages.

• Package A covers the construction of a 4,500 metre runway; associated taxiways; aprons; airside roads; and an airfield lighting system.
• Package B covers landside infrastructure, including car parks and landscaped areas.
• Package C covers utilities and related infrastructure.

The deadline for the submission of prequalification documents has been set for 25 June. It is expected that the construction tender will be issued in July.

Fance’s Adpi has been working on the airport project for the past four years, having won the contract to select the site for the development in 2009. The company has also carried out the masterplan for the facility and designed the runways, taxiways, control tower and terminals.

The company is due to submit its final designs to the Transport Ministry at the end of June.

Once complete, the airport will serve the millions of pilgrims and tourists that visit the nearby cities of Najaf and Karbala each year due to the number of shrines and areas of religious significance in the region.