A joint venture led by Germany’s Hochtief has confirmed it has won the contract to upgrade terminals 3 and 4 at Riyadh’s King Khaled International airport.

According to Hochtief, the contract is worth about €1.3bn ($1.45bn), adding that construction has started already and completion is currently planned for May 2019.

MEED reported that the team, which also includes India’s Shapoorji Pallonji and the local Nahdat al-Emaar, was selected for the deal in July last year.

The Hochtief joint venture was the low bidder for the airport expansion project, which also includes the upgrade of terminals 1 and 2. Hochtief’s statement only referred to the upgrade of terminals 3 and 4.

In May 2014, the consortium submitted a total price of SR10.8bn ($2.9bn) for the deal. The price was SR5.24bn for part A, which involves the upgrade of terminals 3 and 4. It also submitted a price of SR5.6bn for part B, which covers the upgrade of terminals 1 and 2.

The contract is the latest major construction deal to be awarded at King Khaled International, which is located 35 kilometres north of the capital. In May 2013, a joint venture of Turkey’s TAV and the local Al-Arrab Contracting Company was awarded the estimated SR1.5bn contract to build the new Terminal 5.

In July 2012, Almabani General Contractors was awarded an estimated SR219.5m contract to build a new apron at the airport.

All these projects are part of the General Authority of Civil Aviation’s (Gaca’s) significant expansion programme for King Khaled International, which will increase the airport’s annual capacity to about 24 million passengers from the current 14 million.

The expansion at Riyadh is part of the kingdom’s plans to overhaul its aviation infrastructure. Earlier in June, the local Al-Muhaidib Contracting won the $280m expansion package for the Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz regional airport.

Al-Muhaidib was awarded the contract despite submitting a commercial bid that was 35 per cent higher than the low bid of SR923m, submitted by a consortium between local firm Al-Ayuni for Investment & Contracting and Turkey’s Kalyon Group.

The project involves the construction of a main passenger terminal, which could accommodate up to 1.4 million passengers; arrival and departure halls; private halls for women; a surveillance radar building; an air traffic control tower; and fuel storage tank.

The expansion of the airport is part of a series of major schemes launched by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca). In April 2014, Gaca awarded an estimated SR2.5bn contract to a local consortium for the construction of the new King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz airport in Jizan.

The consortium, which consists of Saudi/Lebanese Modern Construction Company and local companies Safari and Al-Subaie, will build a three-storey passenger terminal, a control tower, air cargo zones and other facilities. The terminal will have 10 gates and a VIP lounge.