GALFAR Engineering and Contracting Company, one of the leading contracting firms in the Gulf region, is believed to have won the inflight catering facilities contract of Muscat International Airport in Oman, which is estimated to cost RO67.37 million ($172.94 million).

The competing bidders of the project were Joannou and Paraskevaides Oman, Bahwan Contracting and Larsen & Toubro, according to the Times of Oman.

The catering facility, part of the expansion of the airport, is aimed at creating facilities for 30,000 meals a day. 

The construction of catering building is expected to take 18 months, after contract award. Also, the cargo terminal contract, which is the 12th package of the expansion programme, is yet to be awarded.

The Muscat airport expansion has around 16 packages and the majority of the packages have already been completed or awarded. However, few packages, mostly service related contracts, are yet to be awarded.

The airport expansion, which is more of a rebuild programme, is likely to be ready only by sometime in 2015.

Muscat international airport will have two runways after the expansion programme.

It is designed as class A, according to International Air Transport Association (Iata) standards. There will be parking space for 8,000 cars at the airport.

Other features of the airport, which will have a capacity to handle 12 million passengers in the first phase, include 42 air bridges with a capacity to handle 5,500 baggages per hour, and 118 check-in counters at the departure section.

The airport will also have a 90-room hotel, which will have separate meeting rooms.

The passenger handling capacity of Muscat airport will be further increased to 24 million in the second phase, 36 million and 42 million in the subsequent phases, depending on the growth in passenger traffic.