Infrastructure

Construction starts on $1.1bn Bahrain airport expansion

By Ben Flanagan

Posted on February 18, 2016

Project funded by $919m grant from the UAE

PHOTO: A ceremony was held this week to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the Bahrain International Airport expansion. Credit: WAM

Bahrain has started construction work on a $1.1 billion airport expansion project which is majority funded by the UAE.

The move will see Bahrain International Airport increase its capacity to accommodate 14 million passengers a year, according to the country’s official news agency.

Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the country’s Prime Minister, laid the foundation stone for the new building, it was reported on Wednesday.

The project is part of a series of mega developments, worth more than $32 billion, planned over the coming years.

The airport expansion includes a new passenger terminal covering an area of 201,467sqm, making it four times the size of the existing terminal.

It also features 24 air bridges, airport aprons, departure halls, check-in counters, passport control booths, security lanes, a Duty Free retail area, e-Gates, baggage reclaim belts and car parks.

A joint venture between the Dubai-listed Arabtec and Turkey’s TAV Construction is building the new passenger terminal at Bahrain airport, it was announced in January.

The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) took part in the ceremony that marked the start of work on the expansion project, according to the UAE state news agency WAM.

The project is being funded by a AED9.19 billion (US$2.5 billion) grant provided by the UAE to Bahrain in 2013 as part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) development programme for Bahrain, WAM said.

Administered by ADFD, the grant aims to support development projects in Bahrain over 10 years. Of the grant, AED3.373 billion (US$919 million) was allocated towards the Bahrain airport expansion.