Al Nasriyah Al Kuwaitiyah Co (Al Nasriyah), have been awarded a 45 year contract to build and manage a new airport, NADA, in three phases in the Iraqi city of Al Diwaniyah, capital of the Al-QÄdisiyyah Governorate. The city is strategically located on the Baghdad Basra rail corridor and the initial intention for the airport is to act as a cargo hub, with growth as an international airport which will be capable of servicing the south and central regions of Iraq which has a domestic population currently in excess of 11 million people.
Al Nasriyah will be working in conjunction with Turkish construction giant The DoÄuĊ Group, who in turn are part of DoÄuĊ Holding A.Ċ. The airport management side of things will be run by Eyles AMG who are headquartered in Dubai with a subsidiary office, AMG Munich GmbH in Munich, Germany. Eyles AMG have extensive experience in the development and management of over 30 airports worldwide. The total contract has a value of US$1.35 billion and is expected to be completed within 5 years. The first phase involves the creation of a 45 meter wide 1,600 meter long runway capable of handling any of todayâs aircraft, plus a free trade zone on a 17.5 million sq. m site and will cost US$420m. This section of the project should be completed by spring 2017.
In addition to the airport, the contract awarded to Al Nasriyah includes the development of what will be known as Airotropolis, an almost âfutureworld-styleâ city which will have industrial and commercial sectors, education, medical and sporting facilities, plus residential development. The new airport and surrounding development is seen as a massive economic driver for southern and central Iraq. The contract was awarded by the Iraqi National Investment Commission (NIC) whose Chairman, Sami al-Araji, made it apparent that its signing was clear evidence of the contribution of the private sector in the reconstruction of Iraq, confirming that Al Nasriyah would also contribute 10% of any profits from the project to the provincial government. In addition it is anticipated that the project will provide over 8,000 jobs for the people in the governorate.
The news regarding this airport comes only a couple of months after it was announced that Kharafi National, Kuwaitâs leading construction firm, had been awarded a contract worth 1.4bn dinars.
