The Sharjah Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) is expected to appoint a project management firm for the expansion of the airport “within days.”

The scope of work of the selected project management firm will include the preparation of tender documents, according to sources familiar with the project.

Nine firms are understood to be competing for the contract. They include:

• Bechtel (US)
• CH2M Hill (US)
• Halcrow (US)
• Parsons (US)
• ADPI (France)
• Dar al-Handasah (Lebanon)

The selected project management contractor will not be able to bid for the design and consultancy contract, which is expected to be tendered in March.

The budget for the expansion of the airport, understood to be around AED1.5bn ($400m), has been recently approved.

The planned expansion will take the airport capacity from 8 to 18 million passengers annually.

Sharjah International processed more than 11 million passengers in 2016, a rise of 10.5 per cent over the previous year.

US’ Bechtel and UK’s EY were previously appointed as consultant and financial advisor, respectively, for a masterplan that includes increasing the airport’s passenger capacity to up to 25 million passengers annually by 2025.