France-based construction and development firm Vinci has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of the Shahid Hashemi Nejad International airport in Mashhad, Iran’s second most populous city.

Vinci has agreed to build a 43,000-square-metre terminal that caters to international flights and a 25,000 square-metre domestic terminal at the airport, according to a local media report citing Hossein Esfandiari, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.

The MoU was signed earlier this month during the visit of French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to Iran.

It follows a preliminary agreement announced in 2016 between the Iranian government and Vinci.

The airport development will be undertaken on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

The latest available figure indicates that the existing airport at Mashhad handled in excess of 8.2 million passengers in 2014. This makes the airport the county’s second busiest next to Mehrabad International in the capital Tehran.

The agreement with Vinci could potentially include the expansion of the apron at Mashhad International as well as the development of a second airport in Isfahan, south of Tehran.

Mashhad is located in the northeastern part of the country close to the borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.