Muscat - Construction work on the terminal for new Muscat International Airport will be completed by the year-end, said Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Salim al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications, on Monday. During a visit to the new airport site, the minister said the work (MC3 package) is 91 per cent complete and the ministry and the relevant authorities expect to receive the project from the contractor, and the operational readiness team will begin their process soon after. As per the international standards, trial runs and other training processes may take up to six months.
Pointing out that around 20,000 workers are currently employed on the site, he praised the efforts of the contractors, consultants and supervisors of the project and all others working with them, looking to put more efforts in the next stage. Dr Futaisi said that 91 per cent of the work is completed on the terminal, "which makes us optimistic about the completion of all construction works for this important package at the airport project by the end of the year." He said that screening and training processes and checking the operational readiness will start immediately after the completion of the construction of the passenger terminal, adding that this will be achieved with the speed of the completion of the remaining works of the third package.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mohammed bin Nasser al Za'abi, CEO of the Public Authority of Civil Aviation, said the new airport will cater to around 12 million passengers a year and added there is a study being carried out will increase the capacity of the airport from 12 million passengers per year to over 20 million passengers and subsequently to 48 million passengers. It may be noted that progress is currently faster on the northern wing compared to those in the southern and western parts of the airport. The new airport will be able to receive the largest aircraft which are currently in service across the world, as the new runway is 4-km long and 75 metre wide. Passenger halls and on the airside (taxiways) have been designed in such a way that they can adjusted to the growing pace of travellers.
Dr Futaisi added that progress has been also made on the three regional airports in Sohar, Duqm and Ras al Hadd where the phase one and two have been completed. Sohar and Duqm airports are currently operational from a temporary terminal building. The passenger terminal building contractor for Duqm Airport commenced work recently, while the ministry is finalising the procedures with regards to the third package of Sohar Airport. He added the new low-cost airline based in Oman is expected to start operations sometime this year, and several other tenders have been floated by OAMC with regards to the second operator for ground handling services and air freight services among others.
© Oman Daily Observer 2016
