THE General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in Saudi Arabia has asked eight prequalified firms to submit bids by December 15 to develop Phase One of the Madinah airport at a cost of $2 billion.
The prequalified firms include TAV Airports Holding, GMR Infrastructure, Aeroports de Paris Management, Saudi Binladin Group, Badr Consortium, Aena Desarrollo Internacional, YDA and Airports Company of South Africa.
The selected bidder will develop airside and landside facilities at the airport under a long-term concession as part of Phase One.
The SR9 billion ($2 billion) project will also include construction of a new passenger terminal, renovation of the existing runway and construction of a second runway in two phases.
Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah, which currently handles 3.5 million passengers each year, is expected to handle 14 million passengers annually once the upgrade is complete.
Saudi Arabia has set aside SR2.5 billion ($666.6 million) to develop some of the kingdom’s existing domestic airports and build new ones, according to GACA president Abdullah Ruhaimi.
As part of this plan, the kingdom recently signed operation and maintenance (O&M) contracts worth SR1.29 billion ($344 million) for 25 airports in the kingdom.
The five-year contracts for 24 domestic airports, as well as the Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah, were signed by Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Muhammad, deputy chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).
Prince Fahd who is also the Assistant Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General for Civil Aviation Affairs, signed the contracts on behalf of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General.
The projects have come to reflect the government’s care for the aviation industry, which is seen as the “driving wheel for development,” says Ruhaimi.
The contracts include responsibilities such as cleaning, grassing of airport outside areas, water and spare parts supply, provision of vehicles and equipment and evaluating systems and performance standards.
The contracts also cover security systems, air-conditioning, baggage claim areas, gangways and staircases to the planes and other basic airport facilities.
Contracted companies will be responsible for proving well-trained airport staff to boost the quality of the airlines’ services.
The projects will help airports catch up with the industry’s accelerating development and contribute to improved travel security and safety, says Ruhaimi.
The 25 airports were divided into five groups with each group awarded to a company or an alliance of companies.
Group One includes Prince Abdul-Mohsen bin Abdul Aziz Airport in Yanbu, Al Baha airport, Rabigh airport, Taif airport and GACA headquarters in Jeddah. The contract, worth SR253 million ($67.5 million), was awarded to the Saudi Company for Limited Services in alliance with Mohammed Bin Laden Company.
A SR285-million ($76 million) contract for group two, which was won by Al Jawdah for Contracting, covers Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz International Airport at Madinah, Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdul Aziz Airport at Al Ola, and the Hail, Tabuk and Al Wajh airports.
A third group contract, worth SR251 million ($66.9 million), was won by Arabian Bemco Contracting Company for Arar, Turaif, Qurayat, Jouf and Rafha airports.
Safari received a SR254-million ($67.7 million) contract for work on Group Four, which covers Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Airport at Dawadmi, Al Hasa airport at Qassim, and Hafr Al Batin and Wadi Al Dawasser airports along with King Khaled Military City at Hafr Al Batin.
Finally, Saudi Binladin Group Company for Operation and Maintenance won a SR251 million ($66.9 million) contract for Group Five, which comprises King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Airport in Jizan along with Bisha, Abha, Najran and Sharroura airports.
