Kuwait government annouce $6 bn airport expansion

The passenger terminal currently has the capacity to handle around seven million passengers a year, but this will increase to 13 million by 2016, once the expansion plan is completed, al-Farah told AFP.

 

He added that the capacity could be increased to 25 million by 2025.

 

Kuwait airport handled 8.5 million passengers in 2011, al-Farah said, with the number expected to exceed nine million passengers this year, so this increase in capacity is greatly needed.  Traffic in and out of Kuwait is on the rise, with Etihad increasing frequency to Kuwait from 21 to 25 flights per week in April, and Emirates recently increasing to five daily flights, including the deployment of a tri-class 777-300ER. 

 

Nikolai Malsch, partner at Foster + Partners, which has designed the new Kuwait International airport, told Arabian Aerospace: “The terminal we have designed is strategically located to anticipate and enable future expansion – the airport will initially accommodate 13 million passengers per year, with the flexibility to increase to 25 million passengers and to accommodate 50 million passengers with further development.”

 

The plan to expand the passenger terminal to occupy 710,000 sqm is expected to cost $3 billion, while the remaining $3 billion is to be spent on other projects, including widening the runways, a new control tower and a new cargo town.