Oman announces new airport construction plans

The Sultanate of Oman is expecting a large increase in the number of tourists visiting the country. To meet the expected surge in demand, Salalah’s airport is being expanded from the current needs of 300,000 passengers per year to accommodate two million in Phase One. Capacity will rise eventually to four million, Passenger Terminal Today reported.
Three domestic airports are to be built in the southern towns of Haima and Shaleem, as well as in Adam, a gateway city to Oman’s interior region some 300km south of Muscat.
Duqm is to be the country’s third international airport, with a capacity for 500,000 passengers per year, and it is the site of a port project, refinery and shipyard as well many resorts. Firms are currently bidding for a US$200 million contract for the construction of the airfield and infrastructure projects. Other airports are to be built in Ras al Hadd and Sohar, 200km from Muscat on the way to Dubai. Sohar is Oman’s foremost industrial hub and the airport is scheduled for completion by 2013. A US$300 million tender for the passenger terminal is still to be appointed.
The country’s biggest airport development is at Muscat International Airport. The plan is to build a standalone midfield terminal with an average throughput of 12 million passengers a year, 32 airbridges and a VIP building. The second terminal will be connected to the rest of the airport via an underground metro system, with the design brief making it possible to expand to 48 million passengers a year by 2050. Last year MIA saw air traffic rise 18 percent over 2007 to 4.5 million passengers.

Source: Transportweekly