Construction work has started on the expansion of Bahrain International Airport which aims to increase its annual capacity to 14 million passengers.
Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, laid the foundation stone for the massive expansion project in the presence of Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister of Bahrain, Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), Abdul Redha Abdullah Khouri, the UAE Ambassador to Bahrain, as well as a number of senior officials.
The project is being funded from the AED9.19 billion ($2.5 billion) grant provided by the UAE to Bahrain in 2013 as part of the Gulf Cooperation Council development programme for Bahrain.
Administered by ADFD, the grant aims to support development projects in the kingdom over the 10 years. Of this grant, AED3.373 billion ($919 million) was allocated towards expanding Bahrain International Airport.
The $1.1 billion expansion of Bahrain International Airport aims to increase its capacity to 14 million passengers per year.
The project also seeks to upgrade the services and facilities provided by the airport, a statement said.
Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of ADFD, said: “Investing in an exciting project such as this airport expansion is an important driver of these ambitions and we look forward to seeing the project progress and take shape.”
Thanking the UAE for its contribution to the airport expansion project, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Bahrain, added: “Being Bahrain’s gateway to the world, the expansion of Bahrain International Airport will give a strong boost to the economy of Bahrain by enhancing its competitiveness and building world-class aviation infrastructure.”
The project involves the construction of a new passenger terminal along with the construction of additional landing slots, a service building, and a hangar, creating hundreds of new job opportunities.
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