New Airports Under Construction With Amazing Designs, Facilities And Technology

If there is one thing which is constant, it is new airports construction.

In fast-growing economic and populous regions such as Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, investments in new airports construction remain strong. The total value of the global airport construction projects pipeline stands at US$721.7 billion, with the US and China accounting for the largest shares, with project pipelines valued at US$90.4 billion and US$76.7 billion, respectively. Asia-Pacific has the highest value pipeline, at US$291.2 billion, followed by the Middle East and Africa (MEA) with US$163.5 billion.

A report says the total value of 152 active aviation-related projects in the Middle East reached US$57.7 billion. Saudi Arabia accounted for the largest share of project value, followed by the UAE and Kuwait.  According to the Centre for Aviation (CAPA) data, up to US$1.1 trillion is to be spent on airport construction globally – this is broken down by US$255 billion being invested in new (Greenfield) airport projects around the world and US$845 billion in projects such as new runways and terminal buildings, runway and terminal extensions.

Topping the list is Beijing’s new US$12.6 billion airport, one of the world’s largest when it opens in October 2019. It will have an eventual capacity of 100 million. The airport will have 7 runways. An international airport under construction in Chengdu will boast six runways and handle 90 passengers each year. By 2036, China’s domestic air-travel traffic will quadruple to 1.6 billion passengers. The world’s most populous country already had 207 civil airports, which they hope to increase to 260 by 2020.

India is looking to boost its connectivity by establishing 100 airports at a cost of US$62.2 billion to handle one billion travellers by 2035. India’s aviation industry will be the third largest for departures by 2019. One of the flagship new airports will be the Greater Noida airport, about 60 km from Delhi. The expansion of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport – India’s busiest airport by passenger traffic will be completed by 2021 with the overall handling capacity increasing to 85 million passengers per year.

Navi Mumbai international airport is expected to be completed by December 2019.  It will be capable of handling 10 million passengers a year upon completion of the first phase, 25 million passengers a year in the second phase, and finally, 60 million passengers a year by 2032.

In the Arab world, Tunisia will build a new airport that meets international standards by 2030. With an estimated cost of US$840 million, the new civilian airport will be the 10^th in the North African country.  Egypt is spending US$18.5 billion through building three new airports, including the New Administrative Capital Airport which is expected to be completed in 2019.  The Sphinx International Airport is slated to open in summer 2018.

In Saudi Arabia, the new Taif International Airport is expected to open in December 2020. The biggest Arabian Gulf state has 27 airports and the government plans the development of four new airports. Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, by 2019, plans to increase the total capacity to handle 24 million international passengers yearly. Sultanate of Oman, which earlier this year opened an US$1.8 billion ‘silent terminal’ with robots directing passengers, hopes it will be among the top 20 airports in the world by 2020. Three development phases are expected to boost the number of passengers at the airport to 24 million, 36 million and finally 48 million.  Three regional airports are also under development in Ad Duqm, Sohar and Ras Al Hadd.