The MA Kharafi Group of Kuwait is ready to inaugurate the Marsa Alam Airport in Egypt in October, the official Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) has reported.
The Marsa Alam airport on the Red Sea coast is Egypt's first private sector airport and was built on the BOT (build-operate-transfer) system. Kharafi will hold the right to run the project for 40 years through its affiliate, Emak for Management and Operation of Airports.
The airport will be administered by a French company, the report said.
The first phase of the airport project involves an investment of $50 million, according to a spokesman from Kharafi. The contractors on the project are the General Nile Company and Arab Contractors Company while the consultants are NACO (Netherlands Airport Consultant) and ECG (Egyptian Consultant Group). A second phase is planned for the future.
The group has also inked a number of deals with international firms to provide infrastructure, land and passenger services at the airport, James Pringle, Kharafi's senior advisor in Egypt, said.
He announced that the group has almost completed construction of several tourism projects south of the Red Sea.
A new resort integrated community called Port Ghalib is under development at proximity of the airport. This resort will include hotels, corniche, shopping areas, restaurants, diving facilities and many others.
Kharafi is planning new investments to the tune of $1 billion in Egypt over the next few years, he said.
Meanwhile, a consortium led by the Swiss ABB Equity Ventures has been declared the winner of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract for a new airport terminal in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Shaikh, a news report said.
Egyptian Airports Holding, which opened commercial offers from bidders on May 15, said the ABB offer has been judged the best, and contract negotiations are to start in the next few weeks, according to the report.
The other members of the consortium are Germany's ABB Airport Technologies, Canada's Vancouver Airport Services, Sweden's Skanska and local firm Samcrete.
The new terminal to be designed by Canada's Architectura, will be built on a site of 66,000 sq m, and will require 12 air bridges. It will have a capacity of 3,000 passengers an hour.
ABB has proposed to pay a minimum of $10 million a year in royalties, and share 30 per cent of all its income with the client. Total investment costs are estimated at $170 million. The main source of revenue over the 25-year concession will be aviation services and retail.