Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) has tendered the contract for the design, development, financing and operation of Taif International airport, the second airport in the kingdom to be procured using a full-fledged public-private partnership (PPP) model.

“The project is already tendered…. The prequalification phase [was completed] three months ago,” a source familiar with the project tells MEED.

It is understood the project generated substantial interest from local and international developers, operators and investors. ”“A full-scale concession project like this is rare in this region, which explains the strong appetite from construction firms, investors and operators,” another source told MEED in January.

MEED earlier reported that the list of prequalifiers would be announced in February, but neither the aviation regulator nor its adviser released such a list over the past month.

An award is expected before the end of 2016.

The kingdom’s first full-scale airport PPP was awarded in 2012 to a joint venture of Turkey’s TAV Airports and local contracting firms Saudi Oger and Al-Rajhi. The expanded Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International airport in Medina entered full operations in June 2015.

The $1.2bn Medina airport expansion was funded by the local Arab National Bank, Sabb, National Commercial Bank and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

The Washington-based International Finance Corporation (IFC), which advised Gaca on the Medina airport PPP, is also advising the Saudi airport body for the Taif project.

It is thought that some of the companies that submitted a bid for the Medina airport PPP could have been prequalified for the Taif scheme. Apart from the TAV-led consortium, which won the contract, three other teams submitted a bid for the Medina airport in 2012. They included:

• El-Seif Engineering Contracting Company (local) / ADC & HAS Airports (US) / Emirates Financial Services / Emirates NBD Capital (UAE) / Abdulaziz Alsaghyir Commercial Investment Company (local) / Mohammed al-Sheikh (local)
• Bakri International Energy Company (local) / Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (Malaysia) / Lembaga Tabung Hajii (Malaysia) / Mohammed & Abdullah al-Subeaei Investment Company (local)
• Saudi Binladin Group (local) / Bouygues Batiment International (France) / Aeroports de Paris Management (France) / Limak Investment (Turkey) / MAPA Construction (Turkey)

Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB) has said it will participate in the latest tender.

MAHB has also been shortlisted, along with three other international airport operators, for the operations and maintenance (O&M) contract for the under-construction King Abdulaziz International airport (KAIA) in Jeddah.

Gaca has confirmed it is currently evaluating bids and will award the O&M contract “within two to three months”.