Construction on Abu Dhabi's new airport terminal is gathering pace with the award of a Dh600 million contract to Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG).
The Australian-UAE joint venture builder won the infrastructure contract on the vast Midfield Terminal which is designed with an initial capacity of 30 million passengers.
HLG will deliver the project across “airside and landside airport operational areas, within the Midfield Terminal Complex construction site, the East Midfield Terminal area and along the existing E11 Highway”, HLG said in an Australian regulatory filing.
“The project aligns with HLG’s strategy of targeting large-scale infrastructure opportunities for government clients,” said HLG chief executive Jose Antonio Lopez-Monis.
The Midfield Terminal is key to the expansion plans of Abu Dhabi International Airport which is undergoing rapid growth, driven by the route expansion of Etihad Airways.
Passenger traffic at the airport grew 10.1 per cent in September to reach 1.36 million passengers. It has handled 12.2 million passengers so far this year.
The airport expansion is part of Dh35.8bn in airport-related construction planned in the emirate under the Government's Abu Dhabi 2030 plan.
The Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates-designed terminal will be the largest building in the capital. Its central space is big enough to accommodate three full-sized football pitches.
Builders Arabtec, TAV and CCC won the main Dh10.8 billion order to construct the terminal building last year.
scronin@thenational.ae
