Fujairah International airport and Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) have invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from contractors for the expansion of the airport’s existing runway and construction of a new parallel visual flight rules (VFR) runway.

Interested contractors must be registered with the ADAC sourcing portal and submit a maximum five-page EoI by 23 August.

MEED first reported the plan to extend the existing runway in May this year. The existing runway is 45 metres wide and 3.75 kilometres long with three turning loops and a taxiway.

As well as extending the existing runway and constructing a parallel VFR runway that would allow visual navigation and control of planes independent of air traffic control (ATC), the project also includes a new ATC tower and a 33/11kV primary electrical substation and distribution network, and associated facilities, among others.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the airport development masterplan was signed in April 2014 between Fujairah International airport and ADAC, with the latter committed to supervise the airport expansion project.

Fujairah International Airport is the only UAE international airport located on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. Capitalising on its strategic location, Fujairah has been developing into an oil and transport hub, but its ability to expand was limited due to the shortage of land. Mountains account for more than 80 per cent of its 1,500 square kilometre land area.

The Fujairah 2040 masterplan forecasts that the emirate’s population will rise to 500,000 by 2040 from 150,000 people at present.