Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (Gaca) has extended the bid deadline for a project to expand Qassim domestic airport.

The project entails construction of a new terminal with capacity of 1.4 million passengers a year. The works also include airport infrastructure, such as a control tower, car parks and a mosque. This is the second time the bid deadline, which initially had been set at 27 March, has been extended. The new deadline is 12 August.

GACA plans to open bids this week for Al-Jouf domestic airport, which will involve the construction of a new terminal building along with other airport infrastructure.

The projects are part of several regional airports being developed by Gaca. 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.

Last month, Gaca awarded an estimated SR2.5bn contract to a local consortium for the construction of the new King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz airport in Jizan. The consortium, which consists of Saudi/Lebanese Modern Construction Company and local companies Safari and Al-Subaie, will build a three-storey passenger terminal, a control tower, air cargo zones and other facilities. The terminal will have 10 gates and a VIP lounge.

Also in May, Gaca awarded a SR302m contract to local Jawdat Contracting to expand the Arar domestic airport. Gaca received bids from about 12 contractors in June 2012 for the construction of the airport, which is located in the north of Saudi Arabia, close to the Iraq border. The local Al-Arrab Contracting Company was the low bidder for the contract.

In late May, a consortium led by Germany’s Hochtief submitted the low bid, with a price of SR10.8bn, for the expansion of Riyadh’s King Khalid International airport. The Hochtief team, which also includes India’s Shapoorji Pallonji and the local Al-Nahda, was the lowest bidder for both parts of the expansion project. Their bid included a price of SR5.24bn for part A, which involves the upgrade of terminals 3 and 4, and a price of SR5.6bn for part B, that covers the upgrade of terminals 1 and 2. The second-lowest bidder was a team of Turkey’s IC ICTAS and the local Al-Rashid, with a combined price of SR12bn.

In March, Gaca issued two tenders for the redesign of seven domestic airports as part of an ongoing expansion of airports across the country.

The scope of work includes the design of new passenger terminals, runways, aprons, control towers, maintenance buildings, VIP lounges, and landscaping. The redesign of the seven airports has been split into two separate contracts. The first tender is for design work at Al-Ahsa, Al-Wajh, Sharurah and Wadi al-Dawasir airports.

The second tender is for the redesign of Qaisumah, Rafha and Turaif airports.