Two contractors have been selected for construction contracts on airport projects in Oman.

For the first contract, Cyprus-based J&P has been selected by the Oman Tender Board for the design and build the cargo and maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities at Muscat International and Salalah airports. A total of six contractors submitted bids for the contract, with J&P’s bid of RO199.5m ($518m) being selected by the tender board. Supreme Infrastructure India submitting the low bid of RO119m.

For the second tender, local Galfar Engineering has been selected to build catering facilities as part of an expansion of Muscat International airport. Galfar submitted four prices for the contract, with its bid of OR67.3m being selected by the tender board.

The competing bidders for the contract were local Bahwan Contracting, India’s Larsen & Toubro and Cyprus’ J&P.

The catering facility is aimed at creating facilities for 30,000 meals a day, with the scope of work including construction of a building to accommodate kitchen equipment for serving several carriers flying from Muscat, including the national airline Oman Air.

The construction contracts are part of ongoing projects to expand the capacity of both airports. The project to expand Muscat International airport is one of the largest construction projects in the sultanate.

In October 2010, a consortium of US’ Bechtel, the local Bahwan Engineering and Turkey’s Enka secured a RO706m ($1.8bn) contract to build the new passenger terminal.

The new terminal building will cover a total area of 300,000 square metres and will have a total capacity of 12 million passengers annually.

Also in 2010, a joint venture of the local Galfar Engineering & Contracting and India’s Larsen & Toubro was awarded an estimated RO294.1m deal for the main construction package to expand Salalah International airport. The new terminal will cover a total area of 71,000 sq m and will have a total capacity of 1 million passengers a year.