Three firms vie for US $6.8bn Midfield Terminal expansion

Abu Dhabi International Airport's proposed Midfield Terminal

The Abu Dhabi Airport Company (ADAC) will award the US $6.8 billion (AED25 billion) contract for expansion of its Midfield Terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport to one of three firms.

The contractors that have made the shortlist are France-based Aeroports de Paris, Turkey-based TAV Construction, and Germany-Based Hochtief.

An ADAC spokesperson told Construction Week that it was still unclear when a final announcement would be made.

“The process of selection has been running for 12 months now,” he said. “It is an ongoing process, and the final decision will be made in due course.”

The spokesperson added that the contract would be a public-private partnership.

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FEATURED COMMENT Its a wonderful and huge project but surely a Chinese, Russian or an Asian company would have done the job at half the cost and much earlier as well.   1 Comments Read more comments »

ADAC is owner-operator of the airport and Scadia is the committee assigned to oversee the development master plan.

The first phase of the project will include a terminal capable of handling 20 million passengers annually.

“The design is an X shape, which provides scope for expansion in the coming years,” the spokesperson said.
 
“For relatively minimal interference in operations the terminal can be extended to increase the number of gates and double the number of passengers to 40 million.”

The airport is expected to handle 20 million passengers annually by 2011, with this figure to eventually exceed 40 million.

The spokesperson added that plans had been drawn up to cater to an anual capacity of up to 50 million.
At present the airport is equipped to handle 12 million passengers annually, including a third terminal due to open this quarter.

The award will mark a positive step in the infrastructural plans of the UAE.

Last week Dubai World Central director of marketing and corporate communications Abdulla Al Falasi said the first flight will depart from the under-construction Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai by the end of 2009.

The airport will be the world’s largest passenger and cargo hub, with an annual passenger capacity exceeding 120 million and an annual cargo capacity of 12 million tonnes.

Last month HMRT, a joint venture between Murray and Roberts, Al Habtoor Engineering and Takenaka Corporation, was also awarded the $1.33 billion contract to build the concourse at Dubai International Airport’s new Terminal 3.