Bids from five contracting groups out of seven have passed technical screening for a contract valued at around $250 million for the construction of a new external lines terminal at Istanbul's Ataturk international airport. Tenders for the build-operatetransfer (BOT) project were submitted in late 1995 (MEED 15:12:95).

The five going forward into price comparisons and negotiations are:

Bayindir Holding and the US' Airport Group International Ceylan with Belgium's Tractebel, Ireland's Aerrianta International, and the Netherlands' NV Besix Alsim-Alarko and the US' Airport Development and ADS Tekfen and Intes with the US' American Airlines Italy's SAE with France's Aeroports de Paris (ADP) With a total covered area of 118,000 square metres, the new terminal will double the airport's annual capacity for handling foreign passengers to 10 million. The project will also include a reserve energy centre, a heating centre, a waste incineration plant, a water treatment plant, a reservoir, additional aprons, 18 passenger bridges, and a parking area for 7,000 cars.