Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) has won both contracts for the upgrade of King Abdulaziz International airport in Jeddah.

SBG emerged as the frontrunner for the contracts in September (MEED 22:9:10).

The first contract involves the construction of a 600,000 square-metre passenger terminal that will be able to handle 30 million passengers each year once it is complete. The second contract involves the infrastructure and will involve designing and building runways, tunnels, landscaping and a light rail system.

Contractors submitted their bids for the two deals in April. SBG was the lowest bidder for the terminal and infrastructure contracts as it submitted a price of SR11.3bn ($3bn) and SR13.9bn respectively.

Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in its airports. The other major airport project under way in the kingdom is the expansion of Medina airport. The $1.5bn first phase of the airport involves the construction of a new passenger terminal and the renovation of the existing runway.

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (Gaca) plans to revamp Medina airport to increase its passenger handling capacity to 14 million people a year. The airport currently handles about 3.5 million passengers a year.