COWI wins contract for two international airports in Oman 

In a joint venture with Larsen Architects, COWI has won a contract as the main consultant for the construction of two new international airports in Oman. This constitutes the biggest single international contract won by COWI in the history of the company.

The Danish consultancy will head the joint venture with the local firm Larsen Architects, implementing every phase of the project from planning to building inspection. The Government of the Sultanate of Oman nominated Copenhagen Airports A/S for participation in the design phase. Hence the airport’s international division, Copenhagen Airports International A/S, providing its expertise to the Joint Venture in this phase.

The airports construction investment, jointly financed by Oman’s Ministries of Finance and Transport, totals over DKK 2.4 billion. The COWI Group’s fees from the project are expected to run into hundreds of millions of Danish kroner.

Strengthening the tourist industry

The larger of the two airports, Seeb, will serve the capital Muscat and the more populous northern Oman region. On completion the airport will have a capacity of 12 million passengers a year. The second and smaller airport, Salalah, to be built in southern Oman, will have a capacity of two million passengers a year. The airports are to be completed by the end of 2008.

The assignment includes the construction of runway and taxiways, terminal complex, control tower and other associated buildings and facilities including access roads. The goal is to design two pre-eminent modern airports capable of handling the latest aircrafts including the Airbus 380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. In recent years Oman has been developing its tourist industry as an alternative to the country’s oil and gas riches, and the airports are seen as intrinsic elements supporting the country’s burgeoning tourist industry.

A major challenge

"We have been asked to develop two leading modern airports featuring unique architecture and functionality,” explains chief architect Ole Brogaard Larsen of Larsen Architects, who has worked for COWI in Oman and Bahrain for 13 years. “This is a major project and a major challenge. For me, this is the project of a lifetime".

"We have secured this project as a direct result of the close collaboration between COWI and myself for many years in Oman and our knowledge and respect of Arab culture. Add to this our professional expertise from an international context. In terms of design, the airports are to grow out of the environment in which they will be located."

Previous projects now appear on Oman’s bank notes

COWI Group Chief Operating Officer Lars-Peter Søbye adds: "COWI has had an office in Oman for 15 years and we have been involved in the construction of a number of famous buildings and developments in the country, including the Central Bank and the modernisation of Nizwa, the former capital, both of which Ole Brogaard Larsen was also involved as chief architect. Some of these buildings are pictured on Oman’s bank notes. The Omani authorities know us well and know what we are capable of. Furthermore, development and consultancy to construction of international airports is one of COWI’s core competencies."

By Janne Toft Jensen jaje@cowi.dk

Posted 21.01.2005