A consortium led by Germany’s Hochtief is the low bidder, with a price of SR10.8bn ($2.9bn), for the expansion of Riyadh’s King Khalid International airport.

The Hochtief team, which also includes India’s Shapoorji Pallonji and the local Al-Nahda, was the lowest bidder for both parts of the expansion project, with a price of SR5.24bn for part A, which involves the upgrade of terminals 3 and 4, and a price of SR5.6bn for part B that covers the upgrade of terminals 1 and 2.

The second-lowest bidder was a team of Turkey’s IC ICTAS and the local Al-Rashid with a combined price of SR12bn.

The other bidders were Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) with the local Al-Mabani General Contractors at SR14.5bn, Cyprus-based Joannou & Paraskevaides (J&P) and the local Al-Bawani Company with a price of SR14.8bn; Belgium’s Six Construction with the local El-Seif Engineering Contracting and India’s Larsen & Toubro at SR17bn; and Spain’s FCC with Dubai-based Drake & Scull International at SR21.9bn.

Part A was initially tendered on its own. Part B was added during the tender process. According to sources close the project, the packages are very similar. Part A has a gross floor area of 284,000 square metres on six levels, including one basement level, and part B has a gross floor area 290,000 sq m on six levels with one basement level. The value of part B is slightly larger because it includes a structure linking the two terminal complexes.

The jobs will be completed in phases, with part A to be completed in 48 months, followed by part B, which will take 38 months to complete.

The contract is the latest major construction deal to be tendered at King Khalid International airport, 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 building.

In July 2012, Al-Mabani was awarded an estimated SR219.5m contract to build a new apron at the airport.

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

Beyond Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is spending billions of dollars on the construction and expansion of airports across the kingdom. In early May, 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, 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.

In February, the local Al-Jaber submitted a low bid of SR1.8bn for the contract to build the new Abha airport. Al-Jaber’s price is about 5 per cent lower than the second-lowest price of SR1.9bn submitted by the local Al-Mabani General Contractors. The third-lowest bidder is Kuwait First Group, with a price of SR2bn. The new terminal will cover a total area of 80,000 sq m and have 21 passenger gates.

In March, Gaca issued two tenders for the redesign of seven domestic airports as part of an ongoing expansion of regional airports across the kingdom.

The largest airport project in Saudi Arabia is the expansion of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. It is expanded in stages to increase its annual passenger-handling capacity from 13 million passengers a year to 80 million passengers a year by 2035.

The scheme includes new terminal with 46 departure gates, of which at least three will accommodate the Airbus A380, new hangars and a new 136-metre-high control tower. A railway station is also being built to improve links to the airport. Saudi Binladin Group was awarded two packages worth a total of $7.2bn for design-and-build packages for the new terminal and the associated infrastructure in November 2010.