Saudi Arabia extends bid deadline for airport project

05 March 2014

King Khalid International airport in Riyadh to expand terminals 3 and 4

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (Gaca) has extended the deadline to 24 April for bids for a contract to expand Riyadh’s King Khalid International airport.

The design and build contract will involve the expansion of Terminal 3 and the unused Terminal 4, as well as additional landside work and concourses. The work will also involve the construction of aircraft aprons and stands, airport systems installations, and new utilities and services.

In 2013, Gaca invited nine contracting groups to bid for the contract, with the tender closing date set for 27 February.

The prequalifiers are:

In February 2013, the local arm of US-based Aecom, Aecom Arabia, was appointed to project manage the expansion scheme. The work aims to increase the airport’s annual capacity to 24 million passengers from today’s 14 million.

In May 2013, Gaca awarded the joint venture of Turkey’s TAV and the local Al-Arrab Contracting Company the estimated SR1.5bn ($400m) contract to construct the new Terminal 5 building at King Khalid International.

The project is one of several new airport construction and expansion schemes that have been launched in the country over the past year.

Gaca is currently seeking bidders for two contracts to redesign seven domestic airports in the country. The scope of work includes the design of new terminals, runways, aprons, control towers, maintenance buildings, VIP lounges, and landscaping.

The redesign of the seven airports has been split into two separate tenders. The first tender is for design work at Al-Ahsa, Al-Wajh, Sharurah and Wadi al-Dawasir airports. Bids for the first tender must be submitted by 30 April. The second tender is for the redesign of Qaisumah, Rafha and Turaif airports. Bids for the second tender must be submitted by 4 May.

In February, Gaca issued new tenders for the expansion of two domestic airports in the country.

The first tender is for the expansion of Qassim airport, which will involve the construction of a new terminal building along with other airport infrastructure, such as a control tower, car parks and a mosque. The deadline for bids is 27 March.

The second tender is for the expansion of Al-Jouf airport, which will also entail construction of a new terminal and related airport infrastructure. The deadline for bids is 25 March.

Also in February, the local Al-Jaber submitted a low bid of SR1.8bn ($480m) 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 square metres and have 21 passenger gates. In addition to the terminal building, the contract will involve building other airport infrastructure, including a control tower, car parks and facilities such as mosques.

In June 2013, Gaca received bids from 17 groups for the contract to build the new King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz airport in Jizan. The scheme will involve building a three-storey passenger terminal, a control tower, air cargo zones and other facilities. The terminal will have 10 gates and a VIP lounge.

A consortium of Saudi Lebanese Modern Construction Company (Salmoc), Safari and Safari & Salmoc and Al-Subaie (all local) submitted the low bid of SR2.57bn ($685m). This was 7 per cent less than the SR2.76bn price submitted by the second-lowest bidder, the local Saudi Pan Kingdom Company (Sapac).

Gaca is also preparing tender documents for the redesign of the Qurayyat domestic airport. The tender is expected to be issued in about a month.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.