Abu Dhabi airport shortlist announced

Abu Dhabi's airports company has announced a shortlist of three construction firms for its Dh 25bn expansion.

Abu Dhabi's ambition to be a major hub for international air travel took a step closer with the announcement of a shortlist of three construction firms.

Abu Dhabi's ambition to be a major hub for international air travel took a step closer on Thursday when its airports company announced a shortlist of three construction firms for the Dh25 billion (US$6.8bn) Midfield Terminal expansion. The development, coming on the heels of Dubai International Airport awarding a Dh4.9bn contract for its Concourse 3 last month, suggests major airport projects in the Gulf are proceeding, even as the global credit crisis has curtailed local property developments. The three remaining construction firms are Hochtief, of Germany, the Turkish builder, TAV, and Aeroports de Paris, according to Khalifa al Mazrouei, the chairman of Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC). The shortlist follows a year-long tendering process, but ADAC did not disclose when the contract would be awarded. The new terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport is being built to accommodate the growth of Etihad Airways, which has committed to doubling the number of destinations and adding more than 100 new aircraft in the next decade as it seeks to attract passengers travelling between Europe and Asia. The Midfield Terminal will be opened in stages beginning in 2012, and will be located between the airport's two runways, which are spaced 2km apart. The first phase of the project calls for a 220,000 square metre terminal which will be able to accommodate 20 million passengers per year. Ultimately, the Midfield Terminal - which is designed in the shape of an X by Kohn Pedersen Fox, the UK-based architects - will be able to handle 50 million passengers and two million tonnes of cargo a year. The airport's existing facilities, including a third terminal opening later this quarter, are able to handle 12 million passengers a year. ADAC is in the process of deciding how the public-private partnership (PPP) contract will be structured. With such PPPs, government entities and private companies jointly fund and operate facilities. Singapore's Changi Airport company, which won a management and operations contract at Abu Dhabi International Airport in 2006, did not make the shortlist but had earlier been considered a contender, according to reports. Hochtief is indirectly linked with a Dubai builder. It is a majority shareholder in Leighton Holding, the Australian builder, which in turn has a significant stake in Dubai's Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises. [e-mail]