Egyptian Airports Company has invited firms to bid by 2 July for the Ras Sidr airport build, operate, transfer (BOT) contract, a source familiar with the project tells MEED.

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

In 2016-17, several consortiums expressed an interest in developing the airport.

MEED understands the client issued the latest request for interest for the scheme in April.

The airport will be built in western Sinai, a popular destination among local tourists. It is understood that the authorities are keen to develop the area further in order to attract foreign visitors.

Passenger traffic at Egyptian airports rose by 10 per cent in 2017, the second-highest growth rate 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.

Egyptian Airports Company (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.

EAC also plans to tender the contract for a new passenger terminal at Alexandria's Borg el-Arab airport in June.