Oman's transport ministry announced it has awarded more than US$1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) in airport infrastructure contracts to companies from Turkey, France, Germany and the US.
More contracts are expected this year. Oman is expanding Muscat and Salalah international airports and developing four new regional airports in a multibillion-dollar project to stimulate trade and tourism.
The country's flag-carrier, Oman Air, is also growing and in 2007 announced a deal to buy five new Airbus wide-bodied A330s, scheduled for delivery within the next two years.
Most of the deals announced this week involved construction work, but smaller contracts included a radar system, a new meteorological station and two camel racecourses. TAV Insaat of Turkey and an international consortium called Consolidated Contractors Company of Oman formed a partnership for the largest contract award, for works at Muscat International Airport worth 450 million rials (Dh4.29bn).
Also at Muscat airport, Boskalis Westminster, based in The Netherlands, received an 18.2m rial deal for dredging works and soil reclamation. The German construction firm Strabag was awarded a contract through its local subsidiary to build Sohar Airport, in the Al Batinah region, in a deal worth 37.5m rials.
The airport will cater for up to 50,000 passengers in the first phase and up to 500,000 passengers in later phases. It will be situated close to the country's newest industrial zone, where a reported $12bn has been invested in a new port, free zone and pipeline network.
Sohar and the other domestic airports will include runways measuring 4km long and 75 metres wide.
Abdul Rahim al Harami, the director general of air navigation at the ministry of transport, said the construction works for Muscat airport and the smaller centres should be finished by 2012, according to local media reports.
The airports are all expected to begin operations at the start of 2013.
The smaller airports are expected to draw tourists from Europe, the UAE and elsewhere into the country's undeveloped hinterland.
Last year, the sultanate received 650,000 tourists, including many on chartered tours from Europe, and it has outlined broad goals to greatly increase that number in coming years.
Another of the smaller airports will be in Adam, south-west of Muscat, to be built by Strabag in a deal worth 3.6m rials. An international consortium called Desert Line Projects was chosen in a 23.4m rial deal to build Al Duqm Airport in the Al Wusta region.
Al Duqm Airport, which will be the country's third international airport, carries an estimated cost of between $100m and $200m. Oman is to inject vast sums of money into the Duqm region, with new hotels, resorts and public beaches planned.
The region will also one day be home to a large industrial and free-trade zone that will house a refinery, petrochemical complex, fisheries facilities and port complex.Other winners this week included US-based Raytheon for a contract worth 4.9m rials to design, supply and operate a radar system at Muscat airport.
ADPI of France will act as the project manager for the construction of the regional airports, while the Danish firm COWI was previously hired to serve as project engineer, in collaboration with Larsen Architects. Local media also reported the Omani government signed a deal with a firm called the European Organisation for Satellite Investment to jointly develop the country's meteorology services.
Further announcements were expected to include contracts for the planned regional airport at the coastal city of Ras al Hadd, several hundred kilometres south of Muscat.
Mr al Harami added that the Muscat deals included work to build a network of roads into and inside the airport.
igale@thenational.ae
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The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
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Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20ASI%20(formerly%20DigestAI)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Quddus%20Pativada%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Artificial%20intelligence%2C%20education%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243%20million-plus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GSV%20Ventures%2C%20Character%2C%20Mark%20Cuban%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
THE CARD
2pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
2.30pm: Handicap Dh 76,000 (D) 1,400m
3pm: Handicap Dh 64,000 (D) 1,200m
3.30pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh 100,000 (D) 1,000m
4pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (D) 1,000m
4.30pm: Handicap 64,000 (D) 1,950m
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
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Rating: 5/5
