Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG), in joint venture with TAV and Al Rajhi, has been awarded an SAR2.87 billion (US$765 million) contract in Saudi Arabia for the design and construction of a new maintenance, repair and overhaul facility (MRO) for Saudi Aerospace and Engineering Industries (SAEI). HLG’s share of the contract is worth SAR573 million (US$153 million).

The project is located within the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and is part of an overall SAR27 billion (US$7.2 billion) expansion plan to increase the airport’s capacity from 13 million to 80 million passengers per year by 2035.

Laurie Voyer, HLG's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said: “Strategically this is a very important project for us. Our growth strategy is based on diversifying our workload by both geography and work type with good quality clients who value our services. This project is our first major project in Saudi Arabia, which is perhaps our most important geographic growth market. We are able to leverage off the Leighton Group’s Australian and Asian experience in delivering airport infrastructure and apply this to a new market. Saudi Arabia is a key growth market for HLG. It is by far the largest market in the Middle East and close to US$50 billion worth of projects will be awarded there this year”

HLG – TAV – Al Rajhi JV’s scope of works includes the design and construction of:

• 11 aircraft maintenance hangars with clear spans up to 160 meters.
• Maintenance, ancillary buildings and workshops comprising 343,000 square meters of built-up area.
• All electro-mechanical and special equipment required for a modern automated MRO facilityCorresponding aprons, taxiways and airfield infrastructure works.

The MRO facility will service all types of modern aircraft including the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 models and according to HLG will be the one of the largest MRO facilities in the Middle East. SAEI also retains an option to increase the facility by a further 150,000 square metres which include a further nine hangars.SAEI is part of Saudi Arabian Airlines Group.

Design and enabling works are expected to commence immediately with the facility due for completion in October 2014 after a 30 month design and construct period.

Source: Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG)