Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has extended the tender closing date to 28 December for construction of the second package on Al-Duqm airport.

Oman had originally invited companies to submit their bids by 28 September. However, the ministry then delayed the closing date to 16 November to give the bidders more time to prepare (MEED 22:10:09).

The construction contract is still scheduled to be awarded in the first quarter of next year.

The successful bidder will build infrastructure for a runway and add to the $71m basic infrastructure works package that Oman’s Desert Line Projects won in September 2008 (MEED 20:08:09).

Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications is also evaluating bids for the consultancy contract to supervise the construction of the airport.

So far, it has received offers from Denmark’s Cowi and Oman’s Ibn Khaldun Almadaen Engineering Consultants.

The airport project is part of a larger plan to improve the overall transport infrastructure at Al-Duqm including building a new drydock and a ship-building facility in the city.