The Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) is expected to award the design contract for the air traffic control tower of the Al-Maktum International airport in the first quarter of 2017.

Consultancy firms that participated in the design competition are understood to include:

• Aecom (US)
• Aeroports de Paris Ingenierie (ADPI; France)
• Arup (UK)
• Dar al-Handasah (Lebanon)
• HOK (US)
• Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF; US)

 Each of the invited consultancy firms presented their proposed design and fees to DAEP in December last year.

The scope includes design services associated with architecture, structure, and mechanical, engineering and plumbing (MEP) services, together with tender preparation and site supervision. The scope does not include the design of navigational aids (Navaids), but the consultants are requested to make provision for coordination with the Navaids specialist designer “as required”.

Apart from the air traffic control tower, several packages are expected to be awarded or tendered this year. Bids for the baggage-handling system are under evaluation. Two other major tenders are expected to be released soon including one for the automated people mover (APM) system and for the substructure packages, whose budget is estimated to fetch up to AED10bn ($2.7bn).

Packages awarded in recent months include:

• Construction of aprons adjacent to the passenger terminal building: National Wheel J&P; $163m
• Enabling works: Tristar (local)
• Infrastructure package: Lane (US) / National Contracting & Transportation Company (NCTC) (local); $125m

The Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC) along with the Finance Department and the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) and are also actively negotiating financing for the airport expansion. The UK-based HSBC was appointed in November 2016 to advice in raising $3bn in financing, with commitments from banks expected before end of January.

Negotiations are also ongoing with various export credit agencies, whch have extended an offer to finance the $33bn expansion of the airport.

The projects awarded in 2016, however, will still utilise contractor financing, Khalifa al-Zaffin DACC executive chairman, told MEED in December last year.

The expansion of Al-Maktoum International will be delivered in two phases.

The air traffic control tower is part of the first phase of the expansion, to be completed in 2025. The other facilities to be built in this phase include:

• West terminal building, car park and public road links
• One satellite concourse
• Three parallel code F runways
• Cargo terminal

Upon completion of the final phase in 2045, the airport will feature:

• Five parallel code F runways
• Two terminals (east and west)
• Four satellite concourses featuring an innovative triple-plus layout encompassing three nodes. Each concourse is envisaged to have 100 contact stands to cater for 65 million passengers. This would bring total airport capacity to 225 million passengers a year
• Cargo facility (south)

The concept design for the West terminal has been completed by a team of Lebanon’s Dar al-Handasah and France’s ADPI. In March 2015, the UK’s Leslie Jones Architecture was appointed to carry out the commercial design work for the airport.

Dar al-Handasah (Shair & Partners) is the frontrunner for the design consultancy contract for the West terminal and concourse building.