Prequalified contractors will be announced on 1 July, and a tender issued shortly after. The planned date for the submission and opening of bids is 15 November, with an award due by year-end. Construction is expected to start in early 2005.
According to local law, build-operate-transfer (BOT) concessions are prohibited. Under a BTO process, once construction is complete the selected contractor must transfer the project to the government before it can start operating the airport.
Tunis is also understood to be considering the possibility of adding the country's second largest airport, at Monastir, to the concession deal. The planned aiport is located just 50 kilometres from Monastir, which handles just under 3 million passengers a year.
The airport's location will allow it to serve both passengers travelling to the capital and the popular tourist areas of Sousse and Hammamet.It will have initial capacity of 5 million passengers a year, with the possibility of rising to 30 million passengers at the end of the concession.
The Civil Aviation & Airports Authority (OACA) operates seven international airports in the country, handling just under 10 million passengers a year, a number expected to increase considerably as the tourism sector develops.
A consortium headed by Rothschild (Paris), and including the local Comete Engineeringand France's Gide LoyretteNouelis providing financial, technical and legal advice to Tunis (MEED 13:2:04).
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