The contract for the temporary passenger support building at Kuwait International Airport (KIA) is expected to be awarded after Ramadan.

The facility has a design capacity of 4.5 million passengers annually. It will support the existing terminal, which has been operating beyond capacity, while construction has started on the recently awarded $4.3bn Terminal 2.

The tender calls for the building to become operational within 450 days following signing of the contract.

A consultant tells MEED a 450-day construction period is feasible. “It’s going to be a steel structure…we’ve participated in similar projects in other regions and 450 days is doable.”

The new passenger support building will be constructed on northern side of the existing terminal.

Another source has earlier told MEED the project has been transferred from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to the Al-Diwan al-Amiri, which has allocated a special budget for the project.

A joint venture of Turkey’s Cengiz Insaat Sanayi Ve Ticareta and local First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting (FKTC) submitted a low bid of KD52.8m ($174m) for the contract to build the new passenger support building in December 2015. Apart from the Cengiz/First Kuwait JV, other bidders which submitted an offer for the passenger support facility include:

• Corsan Corviam Construction / Isolux / Kolin JV (Spain/Turkey) / Al-Toubad General Trading & Contracting Company (local): $258m
• Synohydro (China) / Al-Hani Construction & Trading Company (local): $276m
• Metallurgical Corporation of China (China) / Khaled Ali al-Kharafi & Bros Construction Contracting Company (local): $278m
• Limak (Turkey) / Mohd Abdul Mohsen al-Kharafi & Sons (local): $291m
• China State Construction Engineering (China) / Bayan National Construction Contracting Company (local): $296m
• TAV (Turkey) / Consolidated Contractors Company (Athens-based): $417m
• Obermeyer (Germany) / Kuwait Arab Contractors (local): $600m

Kuwait has one of the least developed airports across the GCC. The warehouse of its cargo terminal caught fire on 11 June.

Apart from Terminal 2 and the passenger support building, the tender for the contract to design and construct a new runway is ongoing.