QATAR. The Qatar Company for Airports Operation and Management (MATAR) has revealed detailed plans for the ambitious expansion programme at Hamad International Airport and announced several major contract awards.
MATAR said the airport company is undertaking the expansion to meet the growing demand for air travel, enhance Hamad International’s position as the preferred gateway for travel and transit and to accommodate the growth of its national carrier, Qatar Airways.
The contracting companies and joint ventures awarded the various Hamad International expansion projects include the joint venture of Midmac Contracting, TAV Tepe Akfen Investment Construction and Taisei Corporation; the JV of Consolidated Contractors Company and Teyseer Contracting Company; and the JV of Urbacon Trading & Contracting, Bahadir Construction and Tedeschia Construction Enterprises; as well as Beumer Doha and Al Jaber Engineering Company.
Hamad International’s expansion plans, which have been in place since Q4 2019, will be carried out in two phases, A and B. Phase A will include linking the North Node to the new Central Concourse. This phase of the airport’s expansion is set to increase the terminal’s annual handling capacity to over 53 million passengers by 2022, when Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup. Phase B will take the airport’s capacity to more than 60 million passengers annually.
The expanded terminal area will span 240,000sq m once completed, and will be integrated with the existing terminal. Matar said this will allow passengers to seamlessly transfer from one area to the other, enabling the airport to continue to operate with a single expansive terminal. Furthermore, the expansion works will not affect operations of the existing terminal and passengers’ connection times will be maintained, it added.
Work has already commenced on a western taxiway and stand development, which will increase the operational capacity of Hamad International and add 39 new aircraft stands.
The passenger terminal expansion works and Central Concourse building project are also now in progress. The project includes the construction of an additional 140,000sq m terminal building, located airside, adjoining the existing terminal building through Concourse C with an axis that will house a central garden. Within that, there are plans for 11,720sq m of landscaped retail and F&B space, details of which were first announced in October last year. The project will also include a new transfer area which will help shorten passengers’ connection time, MATAR said.
MATAR also announced the construction of an airside facility of approximately 34,000sq m to house a new state-of-the-art baggage handling system.
Finally, the Hamad International expansion will also see the construction of a new cargo terminal. This will increase the capacity of cargo handled to five million tonnes per year.
