The local African Development Bank Group has approved a $140m loan for the expansion of Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

The $671m project includes construction of a new terminal, runway and control tower.

Once complete the new airport will provide capacity for 10 million passengers a year, bringing the total capacity to 18 million a year.

The expansion project is expected to take 44 months.

Sharm el-Sheikh airport has been Egypt’s fastest-growing facility and is Africa’s third-busiest airport, with an average of 10 per cent annual growth rate in traffic over the past decade, according to government statistics. 

The bank’s contribution to the project represents 21 per cent of the total estimated cost.

The project is co-financed with the Islamic Development Bank and the government.