Kuwait’s Central Tenders Committee has approved the award of the $312m runway construction contract at Kuwait International airport to the joint venture of the local First Kuwaiti Trading Company and Saudi Arabia’s Almabani General Contractors.

Approval from the Central Tenders Committee is the final step before a formal award is made.

Known as package three, the contract covers the construction of a new, third runway at the airport, as well as the reconstruction and extension of the existing eastern runway to make it 4 kilometres long. The new runway will be 4.5km long. This package also includes the construction of primary and secondary access roads and taxiways.

Kuwait is also planning to build an estimated $747m new terminal building at the airport. The new terminal will have an initial capacity of 13 million passengers a year, with the flexibility to increase this to 25 million passengers in the next phase. Its ultimate capacity will be 50 million passengers a year.

The airport’s current passenger capacity is 6 million. The terminal is scheduled to open in November 2016.