Bahrain Airports (BAC) will expand the passenger terminal at Bahrain International in Muharraq in 2013.
BAC CEO Yousif Al-Binfalah was quoted by AINonline saying that it is planning a major project to expand the passenger terminal as a major service centre.
"We have already developed infrastructural plans. We hope that by 2013, we will begin the work," Al- Binfalah said.
The $1bn overhaul project is part of the strategy to boost the airport’s capacity from the current nine million passengers handled yearly to 13.5 million following the project completion.
"One of the purposes of this project is to sustain the competitive advantage that BIA has in the region in terms of the time it takes the passenger to go through all the checks," Al-Binfalah said.
Existing features of the airport include enhanced parking facilities, smart-phone e-ticketing services and e-facilities, while the airport offers no slot restrictions during off-peak hours.
Bahrain minister of transportation Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed was quoted by Arabian Aerospace as saying: "We are developing a fully integrated transport system in Bahrain and business aviation is an important part of that."
In June 2011, BAC launched BIA expansion project, which was aimed at increasing the airport footprint by further 40,000m² through the addition of about 3,000m² of new retail facilities.
The project also features four to five additional contact gates, nine remote gates and 40 additional check-in counters, in addition to a large transfer facility, and several other capacity enhancements and value added facilities.
Image: Expansion of Bahrain International will allow the airport to handle 13.5 million passengers annually.
