EXCLUSIVE: Oman to release airport city tender before end of 2017

17 May 2017

Lebanon’s Dar al-Handasah is expected to complete the project study in the second quarter of this year

Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC) expects to tender the main contract for the development of real estate and retail development projects linked to the Muscat and Salalah International airports before end of 2017.

“A tender will be released as soon as the consultant completes the project study,” Aimen Sultan al-Hosni, CEO, Oman Airports Management Company, tells MEED on the sidelines of the Airport Show in Dubai.

Lebanon’s Dar al-Handasah is undertaking the study, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of the year.

Al-Hosni said he expects the mixed-use projects around the airports to generate strong interest among local and international developers and investors. “These are greenfield projects that offer good potential for investment,” the executive explains.

Al-Hosni says he expects increased collaboration between the private and public sectors in Oman’s aviation sector. Last year, OAMC awarded US-based DHL with a cargo handling contract for Muscat International. It expects to award a separate cargo handling service contract for the Salalah International airport within two months.

Construction work at the Muscat International is expected to be completed before the end of 2017. The airport expects to enter full operations by early 2018.

A team of Lebanon’s Consolidated Contractors Company and Turkey’s TAV Construction won the $1.17bn infrastructure works package for both the Muscat and Salalah international airports in 2007. A joint venture of Bechtel (US), Enka (Turkey) and the local Bahwan Engineering Company won the $1.8bn contract for the construction of both airports’ passenger terminal buildings and related facilities in 2010.

Designed by France’s ADPI, the new airport has a capacity to handle up to 12 million passengers a year. Succeeding phases of the airport expansion plan entails bringing the airport’s capacity to up to 48 million.

Muscat International processed more than 12 million passengers and about 162,000 tonnes of cargo in 2016. These figures are 17 per cent and 21 per cent higher year-on-year, respectively.

 

 

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.