www.khaleejtimes.com Work on a massive expansion of the Seeb International Airport here that will increase its annual handling capacity from the present three million passengers to 48 million, described as one of the biggest ever projects to be carried out in the country, is under way.
The Salalah Airport in the southern Dhofar governorate will also be developed simultaneously in a major drive by the authorities to prepare the two facilities to meet the needs of the Sultanate's growing economy and tourism industry.
The Seeb airport will be expanded in four phases, Transport and Communications Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Harthy told a meeting of members of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) on Wednesday. Work on the first phase, raising handling capacity to 12 million travellers a year, has already started and will be completed in four years, he added.
The other three phases will be carried out by 2050 when the capacity will reach 48 million passengers per year. Expansion at Salalah initially will involve increasing capacity to two million passengers annually by 2011.
The aim is to transform both into ultra-modern airports boasting the world's best facilities, Shaikh Mohammed said. Stressing the vital importance of the scheme in the backdrop of the "substantial economic growth and tourist flow witnessed by the country," he called upon the Omani private sector to take advantage of the vast opportunities created by the project by entering into partnerships with local and international companies.
"The expansion of Seeb and Salalah airports will constitute one of the largest infrastructure projects to be undertaken by the government in terms of its value and size," he said, adding:
"The project will contribute significantly to the country's economic development and future prosperity, as well as attract greater numbers of tourists, business travellers and airlines to the Sultanate."
Shaikh Mohammed said the designs of the airports incorporated the latest developments in the travel industry and the most-modern construction technology that would "create a perfect harmony between the airports and the environment surrounding them."
Jean-Jacques Seyse, Project Director of Airport de Paris Ingenierie (ADPi), management consultants to the project, in a presentation, said the Seeb airport would be developed into one of the world's most advanced, providing a new international gateway to Oman.
The first phase will involve a new passenger terminal, to be built between two parallel runways, a new control tower and a 200,000 tonne capacity cargo terminal. A second passenger terminal planned in the next phase will be linked to the first via a system of high-speed underground trains.
Meanwhile, at Salalah, the expansion will include a new state-of-the-art passenger terminal and upgrading the runway and taxiway system. The plan envisages increasing handling capacity to two million passengers initially, rising to 10 million subsequently.
It will also feature a sea cargo terminal that will be able to handle 100,000 tonnes in the first stage, rising to 400,000 tonnes in later phases.
|