TAV Construction, one of the top three airport construction companies in the world, has won the design and construction tender for the King Khaled International Airport (KKIA) Terminal-5 at Riyadh, the company announced.

The terminal building, which will be built with an investment of $400 million dollars, will be completed within 18 months. KKIA-5, the third tender TAV Construction has won in Saudi Arabia after the Jeddah Airport Aircraft Maintenance Hangars and Madinah International Airport projects, will involve a 100,000 sq m passenger terminal and various auxiliary facilities. It also involves a 90,000 sq m, 3,000-vehicle-capacity multi-storey car park, fire brigade building, an operation centre, a power station, an apron, air side infrastructure and elevated roads and infrastructure works that will join Terminal-5 to the existing terminals.

TAV Group president and CEO Sani Sener said, “As our construction company progresses to expand in the Middle East it also continues creating opportunities for our airport operations company… This is a very important project. Airport privatisations are continuing in Saudi Arabia. This airport is also one of those which will be privatised soon. In the meantime, our investment and operation in Madinah are also ongoing.

“Our $800 million hangar construction project at Jeddah Airport also continues. We are now happy to be undertaking an airport construction project in the country’s third largest city and capital. The airport construction and operations business depends heavily on technology. We continue proudly representing our country throughout the world.”

Having added the Abu Dhabi Airport Midfield Terminal Complex, Madinah Airport and Jeddah Aircraft Maintenance Hangars to its portfolio in 2012 and now winning the Riyadh Terminal-5 project, TAV Construction has now signed over $16 billion worth of contracts in the Middle East and North Africa.

“The design of King Khaled International Airport Terminal 5 stands out as a project that will be completed at international standards, satisfy user requirements and display suitability to the local culture, as in all TAV Construction projects,” the company said. “Whilst Terminal-5 will enrich the passenger experience at Riyadh Airport with its authentic architectural design, it will also provide integration with existing terminals in terms of architecture and operations,” it added.

The airport is undergoing expansion to raise capacity from 12 million passengers to 35 million. The overall expansion, to be completed in 2015, includes constructing the new Terminal-5 and developing the existing terminals 3 and 4.

Naco and its Saudi Arabian branch Sadeco plus HOK have been awarded the contract to design the expansion of the existing terminals 3 and 4. HOK was the original designer of the existing terminals. 

The expansion is the first since King Khaled International Airport was established 30 years ago. Some 17.7 million passengers used the airport last year making it necessary to expand facilities.

While the airport’s infrastructure is being expanded, the authorities have plans to link it with the city transport system. KKIA will be linked with Riyadh’s new metro system.