Turkish infrastructure-to-energy company Limak has been awarded a 236 million dinar ($764.87 million) project by the government of Kuwait to build part of a new terminal at Kuwait International Airport, according to the Gulf Arab state’s official gazette published on Sunday.
The Turkish company will build a package of aircraft parking aprons, taxiways and service buildings, Reuters reported, citing the country’s official gazette.
The $4.34 billion new airport terminal is expected to triple the capacity of Kuwait’s airport to 25 million passengers a year.
"The first stage of the new terminal will be built with a capacity of 13 million passengers capacity and (with) the improvement to be made later it can be expanded up to 25 million," Limak said in a statement on its website.
"After the tender notification of approval to our company and completion of necessary procedures, our construction works of the new terminal will begin," it added.
Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah in July said the new passenger terminal (T2) was one of the national projects aiming to modernize the Gulf nation’s infrastructure to serve Vision 2035, the state-run Kuna news agency reported.
Kuwait’s civil aviation ministry in June invited six prequalified companies to submit bids for the operation, maintenance and development of the international airport, including T2 and its affiliated aircraft aprons.
The list of prequalified firms included GMR Airports (India), Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide and Munich Airport International (Germany), Incheon International Airport Corporation (South Korea), TAV Airport Holding (Türkiye) and Daa International (Ireland).
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last month said it expected the total passenger traffic to and from Kuwait International Airport in 2023 to reach 15.5 million, up from 14.46 million last year.
It is expected to operate 45,000 flights this season, an increase of 15% year-over-year.
The most active destinations from the airport during the summer season were Dubai, Istanbul, Cairo, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Riyadh, Bahrain and Amman.