Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) has awarded France's Egis International the contract to supervise the design and construction of a cargo express village at Bahrain International airport.

The contract is valued at $4.72m.

The scope of works for the selected consultant includes the development plan, design management and development, project coordination, technical support during the tender, and project supervision during the scheme’s execution.

According to Mohamed Bin Falah, Bahrain Airport Company CEO, the expect the design to be completed in the first half of 2019 and that they could issue the construction tender in the second half of 2019.

"There is an increasing e-commerce activity in the (GCC) region, and the express village will cater to operators that aim to increase their e-commerce business," says Bin Falah.

The new facility will feature warehouses and other logistics facilities, augmenting the capacity of the existing cargo facility located adjacent to Bahrain International airport, a source familiar with the project earlier told MEED.

The capacity of Bahrain’s Khalifa Bin Salman Port, located just 13 kilometres from Bahrain International, is currently being expanded with the installation of new equipment.

The port saw a 21 per cent increase in cargo volumes and a 7 per cent increase in container volumes in 2017.

Construction of the new $1.1bn passenger terminal at the airport is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019.