MEED reported that Abu Dhabi Airports Company will develop its USD 6.8 billion midfield terminal project at Abu Dhabi International airport as a construction contract rather than a build operate transfer deal as originally planned.

A senior executive at the company said that airport companies typically tender construction contracts rather than build operate transfer deals if they decide to operate the terminal themselves or if they decide that they want a company other than the builder to manage the terminal when it opens.

Mr Sulaiman al Siksek the head of aviation projects of the supervision committee for the expansion of Abu Dhabi International airport said that ADAC plans to tender the contract before the end of 2009, signalling an end to months of delay on the midfield terminal. The company originally planned to award the contract to build the 220,000 square metre terminals in the Q2. The midfield terminals will more than double the airport’s capacity when it opens at the end of March 2015. The number of passengers using the airport each year will rise from 12 million to 32 million.

ADAC plans to build the terminal between the airport’s runway and a second runway that it plans to build 2 kilometres to the north of the existing runway. The airports company originally planned to open the terminal in 2011 but delayed the opening date by 4 years to make changes to the terminal’s design.

In January, ADAC short listed 3 companies for the build operate transfer contract to develop the terminal: France’s Aeroports de Paris, Germany’s Hochtief and Turkey’s TAV.

(Sourced from MEED)