Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport expansion project has been shelved due to “[the] current economic climate”, says a spokesperson from the Egyptian Airports Company.

The spokeperson also said that the project may be restarted if “things improve”.

Partly funded by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), the scope of the project included a new terminal building, a 4-kilometre runway, car park and other associated facilities. The existing airport has a capacity to handle 7 million passengers annually with the expanded airport expecting to have a capacity to handle 17 million passengers annually.

AfDB was set to finance nearly a quarter of the required $671m to expand the airport.

Earlier this month MEED reported that four groups submitted an offer for the contract to expand Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

The groups, which submitted an offer on 26 January, include:

• Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) (Athens-based) / Acciona (Spain)
• Orascom Construction Industries (local)
• Khalid Ali al-Kharafi & Brothers (Kuwait) / TAV (Turkey)
• Hassan Allam Holding (local)

Located 575 kilometres south east of Cairo, Sharm el-Sheikh is a key resort tourism attraction in Egypt.

It recently came under the spotlight following the crash of a Russian plan on 31 October 2015, which was carrying passengers from the coastal resort to the Russian city of St. Petersburg.