Sharjah International Airport is undergoing a major expansion project to increase its passenger handling capacity to approximately 20 million annually by 2025.
Prepared by the Sharjah Airport Authority (SAA), the expansion plan involves an estimated investment of AED1.5bn ($410m).
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The support services buildings to be created as part of the expansion are expected to be built by the second half of 2020, while the overall project is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.
In August 2020, the airport received Level 3+ Neutrality accreditation which is the highest rank of the Airports Council International’s (ACI) Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, a global carbon management programme for airports.
Sharjah International Airport served 13.6 million passengers in 2019, a 13% increase when compared to 2018. It has been ranked first among MENA airports and fourth globally for accuracy and punctuality in 2019.
Sharjah airport expansion details
The project will involve the construction of a new building and a terminal for arrivals. The airport’s exterior will mimic the wing of a plane, resulting in an open book shape structure.
New aircraft hardstands with 12 remote aircraft hardstand apron pads will be created and connected to the existing building, while the roads leading to the airport will be developed. The expansion will also involve the renovation of the existing building and construction of a new departures terminal, which will be separate from the arrivals terminal. Two passport control areas will be built for the smooth flow of passengers through the airport.
Other components of the expansion include a new VIP lounge with a separate entry and exit, relocation of utilities, building substructure, superstructure skeleton, and other related works.
The project also includes construction of a new ground support equipment (GSE) vehicle maintenance facility and SAA Department of Purchasing and Engineering building compass. Construction work on the engineering building commenced in August 2019, while construction of additional buildings was completed in November 2019.
The construction of a new 3,000m³/day sewage treatment plant was completed in June 2019. The plant has an option for capacity expansion to 4,500m³/day.
The eastern area of the existing airport building is being expanded and new lounges are being added to increase its capacity by 1,000 passengers per hour.
Other developments at Sharjah airport
SAA signed a ten-year extension agreement with hospitality and aircraft catering services company Alpha Flight Services in August 2020. Alpha Flight Services will continue to provide catering services for all flights departing from the airport, under the agreement.
The Directorate of Public Works completed a 1,200m road network for the airport which includes a 330m suspended bridge, with an investment of $23.1m. The airport was also added with 1,120 parking spaces, including 192 staff parking spaces in Lot A, 845 staff spaces in Lot B, and 83 visitor parking spaces.
The airport partnered with Frequentis and Bayanat Engineering UAE to upgrade its voice communication infrastructure and replace the existing Schmid Telecom system.
Contracts involved
SAA inked three agreements worth AED100m ($27.2m) for the expansion of the airport, in May 2018. ADP Ingénierie was selected to design the expansion project and supervise the construction work under a contract valued at AED67m ($18.24m).
Parsons International won an AED51.5m ($14m) contract to serve as the project manager for the expansion project, in May 2017.
CORE Engineering Consultancy received a contract to provide design consultancy and supervision of construction for the design of demolition works to enable the expansion. The contractual scope included demolishing some existing buildings and the design of relocated facilities for airport operations.
The company was also contracted for the design and supervision of construction at the eastside and westside wings. Metito Overseas received an AED26m ($7.07m) contract for the design and construction of the new sewage treatment plant.
Bin Laden Contracting Group was awarded a contract to expand the eastern side of the existing building.
