Four groups have submitted an offer for the contract to expand Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

The groups, which submitted an offer on 26 January, are understood to include:

• Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) (Athens-based) / Acciona (Spain)
• Orascom Construction Industries (local)
• Khalid Ali al-Kharafi & Brothers (Kuwait) / TAV (Turkey)
• Hassan Allam Holding (local)

Partly funded by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), the scope of the project includes a new terminal building, a 4-kilometre runway, car park and other associated facilities. The existing airport has a capacity to handle 7 million passengers annually. When completed, the expanded airport will have a capacity to handle 17 million passengers annually.

AfDB will be financing nearly a quarter of the required $671m to expand the airport.

Located 575 kilometres south east of Cairo, Sharm el-Sheikh is a key resort tourism attraction in Egypt.

It recently came under the spotlight following the crash of a Russian plane on 31 October 2015, which was carrying passengers from the coastal resort to the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

It is understood that the Egyptian government has commissioned UK security firm Control Risks, for a contract worth $700,000, to review and evaluate security processes in Egypt’s key airports in the wake of the crash.