Bechtel Awarded Contract to Develop $2.5 Billion New Doha International Airport

Bechtel’s contract will include the design, construction management, and project management of the new facilities covering a site of approximately 2,200 hectares.
 
NDIA will position Doha and Qatar as a leading regional aviation hub and it will be pivotal to the continued growth of Qatar Airways--the national airline.
 
The new green-field airport will be situated four kilometers east of the existing airport.  It will comprise two runways partially constructed on reclaimed land, a 24-gate passenger terminal complex capable of handling 12 million passengers a year, a new Amiri (Royal) Terminal with additional hardstands, a cargo terminal building, aircraft hangars, and associated airline and airport ancillary features, including 25,000 square meters devoted to retail space.
 
Scheduled for full completion in 2015, construction of the new state-of-the-art airport will be in three phases.  Phase one, due to commence next year, will cost more than $2 billion and will include reclaiming nearly half of the site from the sea with 50 million cubic meters of fill, a 140,000-square-meter, three-storey terminal with 24 contact gates, and three road interchanges to access the new airport.  Detailed design work will continue throughout 2004 and 2005 as the site is reclaimed and construction of the new major facilities will begin from 2005.
 
The mid-term phase will see the addition of a further 16 contact gates and extension of the terminal building to 219,000 square meters and a suspended monorail or “people mover” to transport passengers through the terminal.
 
The final phase of development will include the addition of another 40 contact gates bringing the final total to 80, together with a further extension to the terminal building to 416,00 square meters and capable of handling 50 million passengers per year.
 
NDIA will be the world’s first airport to be designed and built specifically for the Airbus A380-800--the world’s largest passenger aircraft.  On completion of phase one during 2008, the airport will be able to accommodate two A380-800s at any one time.  By the time the airport is fully developed, it will be able to accommodate six A380-800s simultaneously.
 
Rudy Vercelli, Bechtel’s director of global business development for aviation, said:  “We are delighted to have been selected to work in partnership with the Government of Qatar in this challenging project. We look forward to utilizing our wealth of experience in developing aviation infrastructure to deliver a first-class facility to the people of Qatar.”