Kuwait signs $4.4bn airport deal with Turkish firm

Kuwait has signed a $4.4 billion contract with Turkish firm Limak Construction for a new airport terminal that will more than triple passenger capacity to the tiny emirate.

The new terminal, due to be completed in six years, will raise capacity at Kuwait's only airport to 25 million passengers annually, from around seven million now.

It will accommodate all aircraft types across 51 gates, an addition of 30 new gates, and will be able to serve 21 Airbus 380 superjumbos simultaneously, said Kuwait's Public Works Minister Ali al-Omair.

The construction is part of a broad development plan aimed to propel Kuwait to "regional prominence", Omair said, adding that the new terminal would help upgrade Kuwait airport.

"It is a tremendous honour to have been selected to construct this new terminal," said Sezai Bacaksiz, Limak Construction's vice-chairman. He thanked Kuwait for its "confidence in the company’s capabilities".

"This is not merely a new terminal, but an economic link between Kuwait and Turkey," he said, adding that "the terminal has been designed in a way to ensure smooth and convenient travel".

The project has been repeatedly delayed because of claims of highly inflated costs and after technical and financial objections by state accounting watchdogs.

The oil-rich Gulf state's cabinet intervened in the row between the public works ministry and the Audit Bureau two weeks ago and gave the go-ahead for the project to proceed.