The Sharjah Airport Authority expects to award at least two construction packages for the expansion of the Sharjah International airport soon.

According to sources with knowledge of the transactions, the contract for the construction of a sewage treatment plant (STP) is expected to be awarded before the end of the first quarter.

The proposed plant will have a capacity to treat 3,000 cubic-metres of sewage a day.

Companies that are understood to have submitted an offer for the contract include local firms Mena Water,  Metito and Concorde-Corodex and France’s Veolia, which sources say has withdrawn its bid from the tender.

A contract for enabling works is also expected to be awarded imminently.

The budget for the expansion of the airport, understood to be around AED1.5bn ($400m), was approved last year.

The client awarded US-based Parsons a project management services contract in March 2017 for the planning, design, construction, and commissioning of the airport’s expansion.

The project will include numerous facilities as well as the expansion of the passenger terminal building and the widening of roads to and from the airport. The planned expansion will take the airport capacity from 8 million to 25 million passengers annually.

Parsons’ role includes oversight of the expansion work as well as the preparation of the tender documents.

Sharjah International airport reported processing 8.6 million passengers between January and September last year. In 2016, the airport processed more than 11 million passengers, a rise of 10.5 per cent over the previous year.

The US’ Bechtel and UK’s EY were previously appointed as consultant and financial adviser, respectively, for a masterplan that includes increasing the airport’s passenger capacity to up to 25 million passengers annually by 2025.