Sharjah Airport Authority has awarded local firm Metito the contract for the construction of a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Sharjah International airport.

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

Other companies that submitted an offer for the contract include local firms Mena Water and Concorde-Corodex and France’s Veolia, which sources say has since withdrawn its bid from the tender.

The airport expansion budget, estimated at AED1.5bn ($400m), was approved in early 2017.

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

The project includes the delivery of various new 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 eight million to 25 million passengers annually.

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

Sharjah International handled 11.36 million passengers in 2017, compared with 11 million passengers in the previous year.

US-based Bechtel and UK-based Ernst & Young were 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.