Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation, the industry regulator, shortlisted eight groups for the contract to develop the first phase of an airport at Medina, Islam's second holy city. Khalid Al-Khaibary, the authority's spokesman, said in a phone interview on Friday that the winner of the tender will develop, own and operate the airport, the cost of which is estimated at SR6 billion ($1.6 billion), for 25 years before transferring it to the government. The authority designed the airport, which will replace an existing one, to handle as many as 8 million passengers a year. The aim is to attract more pilgrims to Medina. TAV Havalimanlari Holding AS, a Turkish airport operator, said in a June 14 filing with the Istanbul stock exchange that it won pre-qualification to bid for rights to operate the airport. It qualified with Saudi Oger Ltd., Al Rajhi Holding Group and Consolidated Contracting Company. The International Finance Corp., part of the World Bank, will be the financial and legal adviser to the development. The airport authority plans to spend $10 billion to $20 billion on developing and upgrading airports by 2020, with private investors set to contribute as much as $10 billion to the projects. Turkey's TAV Airports Holding said on Monday it had prequalified for a tender for operating rights of Saudi Arabia's Madinah airport with Saudi Oger Holding, Al Rajhi Holding Group and Consolidated Contracting Company. The period of operation is 25 years. The tender is expected to be held this year. The new terminal, at the existing Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz International Airport, will have a capacity of 12 million passengers per year.
