Construction deal for Dubai airport soon

Dubai: Dubai's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) declined to discuss reports that it would award a $1 billion contract to a South African construction firm for the expansion of Dubai International Airport.

Web-based reports have predicted DCA will announce later this month that it has hired Murray & Roberts to build Concourse 3.

Khalifa Al Zafein, director of engineering and projects, said DCA has not selected a winning bidder yet and that negotiations were ongoing. The overall value of the contract was also unknown and depended on which bid was selected, he added.

Part of a $4.1 billion plan to upgrade and enlarge Dubai Airport, Concourse 3 will be a dedicated facility for Emirates airline with 27 contact gates, including 12 for the new Airbus A380.

Murray & Roberts, in a joint venture with Dubai's Al Habtoor Group and Takenaka of Japan, is currently building Concourse 2, Terminal 3 and a carpark at Dubai Airport, in a deal also valued at $1 billion. Company officials based in Dubai declined to comment on the current tender.

When completed, the entire Phase 2 expansion of Dubai Airport, including Terminal 3 and Concourses 2 and 3, will accommodate up to 70 million passengers, up from the current 22 million, according to the Dubai Airport website.