Kuwait has launched a $39 million project to expand the emirate's only international airport and double its capacity to six million passengers a year, the contractors said Sunday.
The two-year project is being carried out on a build-operate-transfer basis by a Kuwaiti private company, the firm's managing director, Hussein al-Sayegh, told AFP.
Kuwait United Construction Management will be allowed to manage the new buildings, which include a car park, shops, airline offices, restaurants and other services, for 18 years.
The project, scheduled for completion in August 2002, will boost the civilian airport capacity to cope with an expected sharp rise in air traffic through the oil-rich emirate.
Kuwait Airport handles thousands of flights and up to three million passengers per year.
In March, the airport authorities ordered an 11.6-million-dollar state-of-the-art radar system to upgrade air traffic safety. It will serve Kuwait for the next 20 years. — (AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
