New Doha International Airport, Qatar

Qatar is building a brand new replacement airport called the New Doha International Airport (NDIA). The airport is being constructed 4km from the existing facility, on a 5,400-acre site (22km²).

The new airport is a response to a projected demand for additional international passenger capacity to the region. The current airport handles 4.2 million passengers a year, whereas the new airport will be able to handle 12.5 million a year after the first phase of construction.

The first phase will cost $2.5bn, while phases two and three are projected to cost an additional $5bn. Phases one and two are due to open together in 2009 giving the airport a passenger capacity of 24 million passengers a year (8,700 passengers an hour) and allowing the transportation of 750,000t of cargo.

The airport is being constructed near the city of Doha and, when finished, will be approximately two-thirds the size of the city (12 times larger than the old airport).

Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) and the New Doha International Airport Steering Committee are the bodies in Qatar responsible for the airport construction.

During the construction process, the old airport will also be expanded and refurbished at a cost of $140m, to increase its capacity to 7.2 million passengers a year for the interim period before the new airport takes over.

CONTRACTOR AND CONSTRUCTION

The contract for the first phase of the airport construction and the planning and design phase was awarded to Bechtel Group Inc. The project started in early 2004 with a detailed planning and design phase and Bechtel produced a master plan of the new airport.

The work continued in 2004 with a massive land reclamation project since over half of the area of the new airport will be constructed on land reclaimed from the sea amounting to 10.9 square miles.

The land reclamation required over 50 million cubic metres of 'fill' to complete (needed four large dredgers to complete the project). The reclamation was completed in early 2005 and the reclaimed area required 13km of armoured seawall to be constructed to protect it.

AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION PHASE ONE

The first phase construction of the new airport will include a single runway of 4,850m designed specifically to accommodate the new Airbus A380-800 superjumbo.

A three-storey terminal building is also being constructed, including 24 contact gates and 350,000m² of floor space, of which 25,000m² will be dedicated as retail space. In addition, there will be seven remote gates.

There will also be three new major road interchanges to provide access to the new airport from the city and surrounding areas (the airport itself will have 17km of dual-carriageway and single-carriageway roads).

The airport will have a five-star luxury hotel and a three-star transit hotel.

The complex will also include a 48,000m² cargo terminal (750,000t/y) with 15m clearance, additional hard standing areas for the passenger terminal, an 80m ATC (triangular structure with an 85m² cabin), hangar space for two A380-800s and three A340s at the same time and a 70,000m² maintenance centre with mezzanine levels for access to aircraft top decks.

Finally the airport, which has been described as 'a small city within a city' will include a 100-acre business park and free trade zone, a courier and mail facility and a general aviation facility.

The national airline Qatar Airways is due to relocate its headquarters and training facilities to the maintenance complex at the new Doha airport when it opens, since the airport will become the major 'hub' in the area. The first phase started properly in 2005 and is due to be completed in late 2008 / early 2009.

The first phase will allow the airport to service two A380-800 superjumbos at the same time. Completion of the first phase is due to coincide with the delivery of two A380-800 aircraft to Qatar Airways. These will be the first two of a fleet of 18 Airbus aircraft, with possibly 16 more to follow at a later date. The fleet will consist of Airbus A380-800, A340-500 and A330-300 aircraft.

CONSTRUCTION WORK

In May 2006 Takenaka received a major construction contract from New Doha International Airport. The 24 month ¥27bn contract covers the construction of the Emiri terminal (9,100m² and also a 1,700m² parking area). This is a terminal for the exclusive use of the royal family and VIPs on state visits, which will feature a multi-layered arch shaped curved design resembling a yacht sail.

In addition Takenaka have been asked to construct a new car park building (two floors for 1,409 cars) and a mosque (2,000m² and a radius of 47m and a height of 13m, with a minaret 37m high).

AIRPORT TECHNOLOGY

When the terminal is completed in 2009 it will have moving walkways to aid in movement of passengers around the complex. There will also be CO2 and heat occupancy sensors a smart building technology so that services can be tailored according to passenger numbers (regulate air intake). In addition the wave like roof of the terminal will be tinted to prevent glare from the sun and to conserve energy.

In May 2007 ARINC and Thales were awarded a $75m contract for the IT, telecommunications and security systems at the airport. These will consist of ARINC iMuse Common-Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) at over 100 check-in desks. In addition ARINC will also install the information exchange infrastructure for data movement across the airport. Thales will work on the safety and security systems and the local area network (LAN).

Both ARINC and Thales will be involved in project design and management. Further technology is being installed on the runway and Qinetiq (a UK defence contractor) will provide Tarsier, a radar-based runway debris detection system. Three radar systems will scan the runway 24 hours a day and locate any debris or objects which could damage aircraft or be sucked into engines.

NEW DOHA PHASES TWO AND THREE

The second phase of construction will include the addition of a further 16 contact gates and an extension of the terminal building to 219,000m². In addition, there will be a suspended monorail system for passenger transit through the terminal. A further luxury hotel will be constructed to accommodate the additional passenger capacity of over 25 million a year passing through the airport.

The third phase will include the addition of a further 40 contact gates, which would bring the final total to 80. To accommodate the extra gates, the terminal building will extend to 416,000m² and would be capable of handling over 50 million passengers a year, 320,000 aircraft movements and two million tons of cargo.

The projected date for final completion is 2015. When fully completed the new Doha airport will be able to service six A380-800 superjumbos simultaneously. The airport will be the first in the world purpose-built to accommodate these aircraft. Phase three will see a second runway which will be parallel to the first one and 4,250m long.