SAUDIA Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI) has awarded a joint venture of TAV Construction, Al Rajhi Holding, and Al Habtoor Leighton a contract to build an aircraft maintenance, repair and operation (MRO) facility at the King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah.

The scope of work on Phase One of the development includes the design and building of 11 aircraft maintenance hangars, ancillary buildings, an administration building, a closed car-park and aircraft parking aprons. With an anticipated contract value of $800 million, works will be completed in 900 days.

“TAV entered the GCC market with an aircraft hangar project in 2004. Since then, we have undertaken major airport developments in the region and today we celebrate the award of the Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries’ aircraft maintenance hangars project at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah,” says Yusuf Akcayoglu, Gulf regional director at TAV Construction.

“For TAV Construction, this project marks another milestone in our Saudi Arabian operations which we launched just two years ago,” he says.

Once complete, the SAEI aircraft maintenance facility will be one of the largest of its kind in the region and designed to meet the MRO requirements for the next 20 years. The design of the facility will allow phased construction to accommodate future capacity expansion requirements.

The SAEI aircraft maintenance complex development includes heavy maintenance, line maintenance, paint and wash hangars; aircraft maintenance shops; aircraft component maintenance shops; warehouse (supply chain – SPC); administration; mosque; fire protection tanks and centre; ground service maintenance building; surface parking; parking structure; roads; aprons; taxiways; and external works.

Speaking about TAV’s success on the project in the kingdom, Akcayoglu says: “We have joined forces with Al Rajhi Holding, our strategic partner in the kingdom, and Habtoor Leighton Group, a leading contracting group to establish the winning team. Our teams have put in tremendous effort at the tendering stage of this project. We are delighted that our proposal was selected as the most acceptable one.”

The SAEI aircraft maintenance hangars development is TAV’s second success in the kingdom. Last year, the Tibah Consortium of TAV Airports Holding, Al Rajhi Holding, and Saudi Oger won a PPP (public-private partnership) tender to undertake the expansion of the Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah.

Under the contract awarded by General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) of Saudi Arabia, the Tibah consortium will design, finance, build and operate the airport for 25 years, making it the first fully-fledged PPP airport project in the region. 

Phase One expansion includes the construction of a new terminal building, rehabilitation of the runway, apron, and taxiway systems. Upon completion of this phase, the yearly passenger capacity of the airport will increase from four to eight million. The plans are to eventually increase the capacity to 12 million yearly.

TAV Construction, headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, is a member of the global airport-brand TAV Group. It was established in 2003 with the vision to become a leading brand in airport construction.

In less than a decade, the company has undertaken projects worth $11 billion in contract value. Engineering News Record (ENR), one of the most reputable publications in the construction industry, ranks TAV as the world’s fourth largest airport contractor.