EXCLUSIVE: Egypt evaluates airport bids

14 August 2018
Two firms submitted a bid for planned Egypt airport's build, operate, transfer (BOT) contract

The Egyptian Airports Company (EAC) is still evaluating the technical bids for the Ras Sidr airport build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, a source familiar with the project tells MEED.

Two firms, the UAE-based Tristar and Suwaa Saudi Holding Company, submitted a bid for the airport project, which will be built in western Sinai, a popular destination for local tourists.

It is understood the authorities are keen on developing the area further in order to attract foreign visitors.

Egypt first announced the project in 2015, when the government said it had provided the land plots necessary for establishing the airport.

Passenger traffic at Egyptian airports rose by 10 per cent in 2017, the second-highest growth rate the country’s airports have experienced since 2011, when the Arab Spring triggered a 27 per cent drop in passenger traffic.

Russia’s decision to lift its two-year ban on Egypt-bound flights following the terrorist attack on a Metrojet plane over the Sinai Peninsula in 2015 is expected to sustain passenger growth in Egypt’s main airports this year.

EAC expects to open a new airport, Sphinx International, in the third quarter of 2018. Located on the Cairo to Alexandria desert road, the airport can handle up to 600 passengers an hour.

The Egyptian military financed the construction of Sphinx International, as well as two other airports under construction: New Capital Cairo and Bredwell International.

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