Turkey-based construction company Limak Insaat has started main construction works on Kuwait International Airport’s new KD1.31-billion ($4.3 billion) passenger terminal with the first concrete pour for its foundations.

The project is due to be completed in six years, said senior Limak Insaat officials at the ceremony held to mark the launch of the project in the presence of HH the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah and Kuwait‘s Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah besides President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior dignitaries from the Gulf.

The new passenger Terminal Two, spread over a sprawling 708,000-sq-m area, will accommodate all aircraft types through 51 gates and stands. 

Designed to International Air Transport Association (Iata) standards, the new facility will also be able to serve 21 A380s.

Kuwait’s Minister of Public Works Abdulrahman Al Mutawa said this project is designed to handle 25 million passengers a year and is scalable for an additional 25 million in the future. “It is environment-friendly and energy-efficient and will recycle water to be used in irrigation and landscaping. In addition, the airport will include solar panels placed on the roof to generate enough energy to power 10 per cent of the terminal’s electricity consumption,”  he stated.

The project has been designed by the Pritzker Award-winner global architecture firm Fosters + Partners. Once ready, KIA’s new terminal will be one of the most advanced airports in the world. Targeting to be one of the world’s first Leed Gold-certified passenger terminals, the airport will combine the thermal properties of the concrete structure with a large expanse of roof-mounted photovoltaic panels to harvest solar energy.