Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) has issued tender documents for six construction packages on the redevelopment of King Abdulaziz International airport in Jeddah.

The tenders are for the airport's baggage-handling system, foundations works for the new terminal building, design and construction of a nursery, dismantling and re-routing of existing services, a road tunnel passing under the airport's runways, and the installation of radio transmitters and receivers.

Altogether, the work is likely to cost several billion dollars.

Gaca will follow these tenders with the first of two main construction packages on the airport's new terminal, which will cover 600,000 square metres and have capacity for up to 30 million passengers a year when in opens in 2013.

"The tender for the main structure is expected in October," says one contractor hoping to work on the project.

Installation of the baggage--handling system will not proceed until work on the main structure has begun. However, bidding is under way because the company that wins the contract will need to order the system quickly following its award.

The winning contractor will assist the consultants on the project - France's Aeroports de Paris and Lebanon's Dar al-Handasah - with incorporating the luggage system into the final design for the terminal.

"It is a huge contract," says one source close to the project. "There will be about 60 kilometres of baggage belts throughout the terminal when it is finished. Only three or four firms in the world can carry out this work. It could cost $1bn."

The deadline for bids for the six new contracts is the middle of August, but the project source says Gaca will probably push it back to allow the bidders and consultants to regroup after Ramadan, which finishes in mid-September.

The bid deadline for the road tunnel tender, which involves the design and construction of a 700-metre-long road tunnel allowing vehicles to drive under the airport's main runway, is 11 August.

The foundations package involves excavation work for the new terminal building and the construction of a diaphragm wall.

The nursery contract involves the design and construction of a 45,000-square-metre air-conditioned nursery that will provide plants for the airport development and its surroundings.

The tender to move the existing utilities involves tearing down buildings, roads and aprons, as well as installing new utilities and building a maintenance control centre.

The sixth contract involves the relocation of existing radio sites, and the installation of two transmitter/receiver stations and two receiver-only stations.

Gaca has tried to accelerate work across the site since April when it awarded a $500m mass earthworks package to the local Al-Mabani General Contractors.