Bahrain International Airport (BIA) will soon award major new contracts for an expansion project, which will see the airport's capacity expand by nearly 50 per cent, said a senior official.

Work is also underway to acquire land for the massive expansion, said chief executive officer of Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) Gordon Dewar.

"We are on course to make BIA one of the friendliest airports in the world in the next few years," he said.

"There will be a lot of construction activity in all parts of the terminal building and beyond. We are committed to do that with the least possible bother to our customers - the passengers."

Dewar was speaking on the sidelines of an event to mark the start of the BIA Safety Week held at the Moevenpick Hotel, Muharraq.

He said that in any modern airport, construction activity never stops.

"That is the dynamics of a growing and ever so busy place and Bahrain is just that," said Dewar. "But while we do that, we also have to ensure we are working in a safe environment and that everyone goes home safely."

The safety week, which goes on till Thursday is under the theme 'stay safe - drive safe: be on the safe side, when you're on the airside'.

It is organised by the BAC in co-ordination with Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA).

"While Bahrain has not had any major incident involving aircraft and airside driving, we have to be safe at all times," said Dewar. He said a minor incident could later result in a major catastrophe if it was not checked and proper steps were taken to correct mistakes.

Dewar praised efforts by all BIA partners to promote and practise the best safety techniques in all their operations.

"We believe the success of BIA requires the co-operation of all airport partners working together towards a common vision of building and operating the best airport for Bahrain.

"As an international airport, we take the safety of our staff, the infrastructure, our customer airlines, passengers and all those who use the airport, very seriously because safety always comes first."

Partners for the annual event include Bahrain Airport Services, Bahrain Aviation Fuelling Company, Bahrain Duty Free, Gulf Air and DHL.

Other key national organisations participating by contributing with training programmes include Asry, Alba and Salmaniya Medical Complex.

The programme involves a series of training sessions throughout the week for all airport staff that drive in airside locations.

The sessions aim to refresh drivers on regulations that govern driving airside as well as the promotion of safe driving techniques and how to handle driving conditions.

The campaign also consists of quizzes at the airside for drivers and the US Navy's medical team will also be giving free medical checks for all drivers.

The launch ceremony was also attended by Civil Aviation Affairs Under-Secretary Captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud as well as key officials from airport partners and airlines.

The BAC had announced in June the formal launch of the BIA expansion project, which will boost capacity from the current nine million passengers to 13.5 million by 2015.

The announcement came as Dar Al Handasah, one of the largest engineering and design practices in the world, was named to lead the BD4.4 million ($11.67 million) design phase of the expansion project.

Dar Al Handasah will also supervise the construction of the extension as part of its contract. – TradeArabia News Service