More than 50 international, regional and local companies have expressed interest in bidding for a contract to develop and operate a new terminal building and related facilities at Abha International airport in Saudi Arabia's Asir Province.

MEED understands the companies that expressed interest in bidding for the contract include France's ADP, Turkiye's TAV, Germany's Munich  Airports, Luxembourg-based Corporacion America, India's Adani and GMR, also of India.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Holding Company (Matarat), through the National Centre for Privatisation and PPP (NCP), issued an expression of interest (EoI) request for the contract earlier this month.

The project will be developed using a build-transfer-operate (BTO) model and entails the design, finance, construction and operation of a greenfield terminal at the airport.

The project will be the kingdom's third airport public-private partnership (PPP) project, following the Hajj terminal at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International airport and the  $1.2bn Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International airport in Medina.

Higher capacity

The first phase of the Abha International airport PPP project, set for completion in 2028, will increase the airport terminal area from 10,500 square metres to 65,000 sq m.

The scope of the contract includes a new rapid exit taxiway on the current runway; a new apron to serve the new terminal; access roads to the new terminal building; and a new car park area.

In addition, the scope includes support facilities such as electrical substation expansion and a new sewage treatment plant.

According to Matarat, the Abha airport’s capacity will increase to accommodate over 13 million passengers annually, a tenfold rise from the current 1.5 million capacity.

When completed, the airport will handle more than 90,000 flights a year, up from 30,000 flights at present.

The new airport is also expected to feature 20 gates and 41 check-in counters with seven new self-service check-in counters.

The BTO project duration is 30 years.

The existing terminal at the airport, which catered to 4.4 million passengers in 2019, will be closed down once the new terminal is complete.

Matarat's transaction advisory team for the project comprises UK-headquartered Deloitte as financial adviser, ALG as technical adviser, and London-based Ashurst as legal adviser.

Abha airport masterplan

In October 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud announced a masterplan for the expansion of the new Abha International airport, which is located in Asir province near the Red Sea in southwest Saudi Arabia.

Following the announcement, Matarat announced that the UK-based Foster & Partners had won the design competition for the new terminal PPP project.