Contracts worth $1.1 billion have been awarded to build a brand new terminal at Bahrain International Airport (BIA), which on completion will be able to receive 14 million passengers.

These include five agreements signed as part of the airport modernisation programme (AMP) on the sidelines of Bahrain International Air Show (BIAS) 2016 held last month at the Sakhir Airbase.

The main contract was awarded to a joint venture between the UAE’s Arabtec and TAV Construction from Turkey and includes the construction of the new passenger terminal building, the main services building and an aircraft bay, landside infrastructure works and a multi-storey car-park.

Work on the terminal will begin in May and is expected to be completed in 51 months. It will become operational in 2019 leading to a three-fold increase in direct flights and numbers of airlines using the new passenger terminal building.

Boasting a built-up area of 220,000 sq m, the new state-of-the-art terminal will increase yearly capacity from the current four million to 14 million passengers.

The contracts were announced by Bahrain Transport and Telecommunications Minister Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed and Bahrain Airports Company CEO Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah at the air show. 

TAV group president and CEO Sani Iener stated: “Since the Istanbul Atatürk Airport project in 2000, we will have built a total of 16 airports in the Middle East and North Africa region – seven of them are the gateways of the capital cities of their respective countries.

Artist’s impressions of the terminal.

“We are proud to be announced as the preferred bidder and to add Bahrain Airport to our portfolio, which includes ongoing projects in the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.”

The other agreements include a $31-million contract for the baggage handling system with Vanderlande from the Netherlands, a $29.7-million deal with US-based L3 Communications for security screening equipment, a $12.5-million agreement with Kone from Finland for the horizontal and vertical transfer systems, and a $11.7-million contract with CIMC from China for the passenger air bridges.

CIMC will design, manufacture, supply and install 25 state-of-the-art passenger loading bridges in the new terminal, with glass walls to allow passengers to appreciate the architecture of BIA’s new passenger terminal and see their aircraft as they board.

L3 Communications will provide equipment that will facilitate the screening process, ensuring passengers’ journey faster and secure.

Vanderlande will design, manufacture and install a state-of-the-art automated baggage sorting system capable of processing 4,700 bags per hour, an early bag store with capacity for at least 600 bags and eight reclaim belts.

In addition, a $3-million contract was also signed on the sidelines of BIAS with Setec from France for the design of an MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility.

To be constructed using green technologies, the terminal building is designed as a Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold building.

Ahmed said work has begun on the airport site with three contractors working on enabling works and piling.