Work on a second terminal at Bahrain International Airport will start early next year. It will almost double the current capacity of the airport.

The expansion will allow the airport to handle 12 million passengers every year, up from 7 million at present.

Bahrain Airport Company chief executive officer Dr Osama Alali told our sister Gulf Daily News, the terminal was expected to be ready by 2013.

He said it was included in the first phase of the airport's expansion, which will also see construction of an Airport Centre boasting a multi-storey car park capable of holding 3,000 vehicles, cinemas and shops.

Further expansions are planned in future that would allow the airport to handle 28 million passengers by 2038, added Dr Alali.

He said the project was being carried out in close co-ordination with Civil Aviation Affairs as part of Bahrain's Vision 2030.-TradeArabia News Service