The contractor of the second enabling works package for the $1-billion Bahrain International Airport (BIA) expansion will be announced next week, according to Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Kamal Ahmed.

Speaking at the Airports Arabia Conference 2015 at the Movenpick Hotel yesterday (May 5), he said work on this phase is expected to be completed by early next year, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

It will include the construction of a new fire station and associated support infrastructure, a new access security gate, the re-provisioning of aviation fuelling facilities and staff car parks.

It was announced earlier that Cyprus Building and Road Construction Company had won the $3.68-million contract for the first enabling works package.

This includes general civil engineering works for relocation of utility services away from the footprint of the existing terminal and the relocation of the existing Bahrain Airport Services facilities, with maintenance workshops, vehicle fuelling stations and training facilities.

Ahmed said the tender for the main construction works, including the new terminal building and other facilities, would be floated in July.

Declining to specify the total value of the tenders awarded so far, the minister said the big-ticket contracts were yet to be awarded.

Fifteen bidders who successfully fulfilled all the pre-qualification criteria have been shortlisted and will be invited to take part in the tender which will be awarded by October, he said.

The shortlisted bidders are: Al Jaber Transportation and General Trading, Al Ghandi and CCC and Shapoorji, Arabtec/TAV Construction, China Harbour Engineering, Ghantoot/Acciona/MJC, GPZ/AlFara'a/Rizzani, Habtoor Leighton Group/ Hochtief, Kharafi/Admak General Contracting, Larsen & Toubro, OHL/Trojan, Saudi Bin Ladin Group, Shade Corporation/ Astaldi/ IC ICTAS, Six Construct/ Nass Contracting, Tecton Limak and Vinci Construction. The scope of work includes the construction of BIA's 214,000-sq-m passenger terminal building and adjoining multi-storey car parks, access roads and forecourts, central utilities complex, new aircraft stands and rehabilitation of existing aircraft stands and taxi lane.

The main works contract also dictates the overall management, supervision and co-ordination of specialist packages for the baggage handling systems, loading bridges, conveying systems, security-screening equipment and information and communications technology, most of which have already been released to bidders and will be awarded in the coming six months.

Bahrain Airport Company chief executive Mohamed Al Binfalah, who also spoke at the conference, said the new terminal is expected to be completed by 2018 and will be four times the size of the existing terminal and able to accommodate 14 million passengers a year. - TradeArabia News Service