meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Kuwait airport expansion to be completed before 2027

15 May 2025

 

Kuwait’s long-delayed $5.8bn project to develop a second terminal at the country’s international airport is on track to be completed before the end of 2026, according to industry sources.

One source said: “The project currently has good momentum and it should be completed before the start of 2027 if there are no significant problems.”

Project execution for the second terminal started in 2017, and the completion date has been pushed back from the initial completion date for the project, which would have seen it finished in 2022.

Earlier this month, Ahmad Al-Kreebani, the chief executive of state-owned Kuwait Airways, was fired and replaced by Abdulwahab Al-Shatti.

Al-Kreebani’s dismissal after two years in the job followed a decision by the country’s civil aviation authority to withdraw its approval for his leadership of the airline, according to news reports.

Over recent months, 14 airlines have exited from Kuwait International airport and suspended their operations in the country.

These airlines included British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM and Singapore Airlines.

These airlines continue to serve other Gulf hubs, such as Doha, Dubai and Riyadh, and have cited Kuwait’s economic unviability, substandard infrastructure and stagnant passenger growth as key reasons for their withdrawal.

The second terminal project consists of three packages.

These are:

  • Package 1: Main works – $4,329m
  • Package 2: Multistorey car park building, connection roads, bridges and landscaping works – $550m
  • Package 3: Aircraft parking, runways and service buildings – $950m

Madrid-headquartered Ineco is executing package one.

The second and third packages are both being executed by Turkey’s Limak Holding.

Earlier this year, Ineco released a statement saying that the development would be “one of the most modern airport terminals in the world”.

It said the building’s triangular shape was “inspired by the sails of traditional dhows”, a type of Arabic sailing vessel, usually with slanting triangular sails, common in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.

The company also said: “The aim of the Kuwait Airport … project is to enable the terminal to operate smoothly from day one.

“To do this, we have to get the basis (construction, systems, employees and operations) perfectly aligned.

“It is a challenge that requires the coordination of a large number of public bodies, consultants and contractors from different countries involved in the construction and future operation of the airport”.

Ineco has previously worked on airport projects in the Spanish cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Valencia and Alicante.

It has also worked on airports in Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Newark in the US.

The terminal building was designed by Foster+Partners and Gulf Consult.

The scope of the main package includes the new terminal building, a building for the cooling and electricity supply facilities, a building for the water supply and the provision of the future Automatic People Mover (APM) connection to the satellite building.

The terminal building will be three times the size of the original building and will have 36 boarding gates.

Of the 36 gates, 30 will be contact gates and six will be for remote boarding.

The building will cover more than 700,000 square metres and have five floors, one of which will be underground.

It will have the capacity, at maximum service level, for 25 million passengers a year once the first phase has been completed and up to 50 million passengers after further phases are completed.

The second package of works includes a new car park with approximately 5,000 parking spaces, connected to the new passenger terminal.

It also includes all new access roads to the airport and landscaping.

The scope of the third package comprises the main platform, new taxiways and several tunnels, including one under platform between the terminal building and the future cargo area of the airport.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13884411/main.jpg
Wil Crisp

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Dewa announces new record for power reliability

    30 April 2026

    Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that it set a new world record for the lowest electricity customer minutes lost (CML), at 0.82 minutes a year in 2025.

    The figure is equivalent to about 49 seconds of annual outage per customer. It improves on the utility’s previous record of 0.94 minutes in 2024, a reduction of around 13%.

    Dewa said it has reduced CML in Dubai from 6.88 minutes a year in 2012 to 0.82 minutes in 2025, significantly lower than the average of about 15 minutes recorded by leading electricity utilities in the European Union.

    The smart grid is a central component of Dewa’s strategy to improve reliability and efficiency. The programme is being implemented with total investments of AED7bn up to 2035.

    One of the key initiatives of the programme is the Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System, which enables remote, round-the-clock control and monitoring.

    Dewa currently has tenders out for several power and water infrastructure projects in the emirate. These include at least four Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) water transmission pipeline projects.

    According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, Dewa awarded $1.1bn-worth of new power and water contracts in 2025. Contract awards had previously reached $2.6bn in 2024, and $4bn in 2024.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16623721/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Riyadh tenders PMC deal for major sports arena

    30 April 2026

     

    Saudi Arabia’s Sports Boulevard Foundation has tendered a contract inviting firms to bid for project management consultancy (PMC) services for the Global Sports Tower in the Athletics District of the Sports Boulevard development in Riyadh.

    The tender was issued on 8 April, with a bid submission deadline of 10 May.

    The 130-metre-tall Global Sports Tower will cover an area of 84,000 square metres and will include more than 30 sports facilities. The tower will feature the world’s tallest indoor climbing wall at 98 metres and a 250-metre running track.

    Earlier this week, MEED reported that the Sports Boulevard Foundation is preparing to award the main construction contract for the Global Sports Tower. MEED understands that bid evaluation has reached an advanced stage and the contract is likely to be awarded by the end of May.

    MEED reported in May last year that design work on the tower had been completed. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud approved the designs in 2024.

    The Sports Boulevard development runs across Riyadh from east to west and, once complete, is set to be the world’s longest park spanning more than 135 kilometres.

    The development will be spread across several districts, including Wadi Hanifah, Arts, Urban Wadi, Entertainment, Athletics and Eco, as well as Sands Sports Park.

    The large-scale project aims to transform central Riyadh – currently dominated by major highways – into a recreational corridor.

    Sports Boulevard, which will feature 4.4 million sq m of public realm and landmark buildings, will also be home to the Centre for Cinematic Arts and a 2,000-seat amphitheatre.

    The development will provide more than 2.3 million sq m of mixed-use commercial, residential, and retail assets, along with sports facilities around the park, known as Linear Park.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16622287/main.jpeg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Contractors submit Saudi Arabia phosphate rail track bids

    30 April 2026

     

    Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) received bids from contractors on 27 April for a multibillion-riyal tender to double the tracks on the existing phosphate transport railway network connecting the Waad Al-Shamal mines to Ras Al-Khair in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

    The tender – covering the second section of the track-doubling works and spanning more than 150 kilometres (km) – was issued on 9 February.

    This follows SAR receiving bids on 1 February for the project’s first phase, which spans about 100km from the AZ1/Nariyah Yard to Ras Al-Khair.

    The scope includes track doubling, alignment modifications, new utility bridges, culvert widening and hydrological structures, as well as the conversion of the AZ1 siding into a mainline track. It also includes support for signalling and telecommunications systems.

    The tender notice was issued in late November.

    Switzerland-based engineering firm ARX is the project consultant.

    MEED understands that these two packages are the first of four that SAR is expected to tender for the phosphate railway line. Other packages anticipated to be tendered shortly include the depot and systems packages.

    In 2023, MEED reported that SAR was planning two projects to increase its freight capacity, including an estimated SR4.2bn ($1.1bn) project to install a second track along the North Train Freight Line and construct three new freight yards.

    Formerly known as the North-South Railway, the North Train is a 1,550km-long freight line running from the phosphate and bauxite mines in the far north of the kingdom to the Al-Baithah junction. There, it diverges into a line southward to Riyadh and a second line running east to downstream fertiliser production and alumina refining facilities at Ras Al-Khair on the Gulf coast.

    Adding a second track and the freight yards will significantly increase the network’s cargo-carrying capacity and facilitate increased industrial production. Project implementation is expected to take four years.

    State-owned SAR is also considering increasing the localisation of railway materials and equipment, including the construction of a cement sleeper manufacturing facility.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16622526/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Iraq sets up commission for $5bn pipeline project

    30 April 2026

    Iraq is setting up a high-level commission to oversee the development of the planned $5bn Basra-Haditha crude oil pipeline project.

    The decision was made at a meeting held on 26 April, attended by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and the Minister of Petroleum Hayyan Abdul Ghani Al-Sawad, as well as other officials and consultants.

    The commission will be chaired by the undersecretary of the Oil Ministry and include advisers to the prime minister, along with director-generals from the Oil Ministry and the Industry & Minerals Ministry.

    Al-Sudani said the pipeline project will increase flexibility in transporting crude oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, as well as the Syrian port of Baniyas and Jordan’s port of Aqaba.

    The pipeline is also expected to strengthen supply to refineries in central and northern Iraq and support higher domestic refining output.

    The meeting also approved allocating $1.5bn to the project this year, with funding provided through the Iraq-China oil-for-infrastructure mechanism, according to a statement issued by the Petroleum Ministry.

    Earlier this month, Iraq’s Council of Ministers approved amendments allowing the Oil Ministry to directly invite specialised companies to bid for the 685-kilometre pipeline.

    The pipeline is expected to have a capacity of up to 2.25 million barrels a day.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16621546/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Construction begins on Dubai Healthcare City projects

    30 April 2026

    Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA) has begun construction on Pixel DHCC and Ibn Sina+, two flagship developments in Dubai Healthcare City.

    Local contractor International Foundation Group has been appointed to carry out the enabling works.

    The two projects form part of Phase 1 of DHCA’s AED1.3bn ($354m) development programme and are scheduled for completion in November 2027.

    Pixel DHCC, designed by Hong Kong-based P&T Architects and Engineers, is planned as Dubai Healthcare City’s first LEED Platinum-certified office building. The nine-storey commercial development will cover 13,000 sq m.

    Ibn Sina+, designed by Dubai’s Design and Architecture Bureau, will be a five-storey medical complex spanning 5,800 sq m.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16611156/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal