A Bechtel-led consortium completed final design and building of a new terminal and associated facilities at Muscat International Airport. It is the largest project ever to be undertaken in the history of the Sultanate of Oman. The numbers are extraordinary. The terminal sits on a floorplate of 418,202m2 – equivalent to 80 football pitches – making it the largest building in the country. The structures required more than 31,100t of structural steel – seven times the amount used in the Eiffel Tower. It also required almost 520,000m3 of concrete – twice that used in the Burj Khalifa. Over 240 million hours were worked, with a peak workforce of 22,000, representing 41 different nationalities.
The project created opportunities for local businesses and local people, with 25% of the civils work awarded to Omani firms. 89% of the vendors used by the project were from the GCC. By implementing our Construction Environmental Control Plan, we reduced our potential carbon footprint by 95%.
The new state-of-the-art passenger terminal is the first encounter many visitors have with Oman. The airport currently has the capacity to handle 20 million passengers per year, with further expansions planned in three subsequent phases to ultimately boost the airport’s capacity to 24M, 36M, and 48M passengers. The airport can now accommodate larger aircraft – including the A380, the world’s largest aircraft– and has enabled Oman Air to launch new routes.
In March 2018, after 70 months of construction, the passenger terminal building and maintenance yard buildings commenced commercial operation as planned and without issue. Since opening its doors, the airport has received worldwide acclaim for its Omani-themed architecture, advanced technology, and exceptional passenger experience.
