EXCLUSIVE: Iran delays airport scheme

25 July 2018
Client sought interest for the contract to develop a new passenger terminal at the Imam Khomeini International airport April 2018

Iran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport City Company has yet to move to the prequalification phase for the contract to develop a new passenger terminal at the Imam Khomeini International airport (IKIA). This could mean it is now unlikely for a tender to be issued before the end of 2018.

“Things are taking a little longer due to the recent developments and the new US policy,” a source with knowledge of the project tells MEED.

The client sought interest for the contract on 18 April 2018.

The Iran Shahr Terminal is to be developed using a combined engineering, procurement and construction plus finance (EPC+F) model.

It has a planned capacity of up to 25 million passengers annually and an estimated budget of €2bn ($2.46bn).

Interested contractors are expected to cover at least 85 per cent of the project’s construction cost.

The contract for the project was tendered and cancelled last year. The previous request for proposals (RFP) specified that the project will be procured using a build, lease, transfer (BLT) model.

The main passenger terminal at the airport, 45 kilometres south of Tehran’s city centre, handled more than 8 million passengers in 2017, 11.5 per cent higher than in 2016. It is known to be the only profit-making airport in Iran.

A new, smaller terminal in the airport, Salam Terminal, is under construction and is expected to be completed by mid-2018. The terminal, which has a design capacity of 4 million passengers a year, was originally planned for pilgrimage traffic, but will now be used for international traffic until the Iran Shahr Terminal is completed.

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