CAIRO - Under the auspices of Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation and in a huge ceremony on the banks of the River Nile with a huge media attendance, the Ministry of Civil Aviation celebrated the signing of three contracts worth LE5 billion. The projects include building a new terminal for Hurghada International Airport, a five-star hotel at Cairo International Airport and the commercial and entertainment Aero City project. Medhat Hindawi, the Chairman of the Egyptian Airports Company, has signed the contract for the building of the new terminal with Omar bin Laden, a representative of the Saudi Arabian bin Laden Group. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Manna, the Chairman of the State-run Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation, has signed the other two contracts being the Chairman of Aerotel Company. Manna delivered a speech in which he stressed that Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning, under the supervision of Minister Ahmed Shafiq, a number of additional development projects to be carried out later this year. These are expected to include expansions of the Aswan, Luxor, Cairo, Assiut and Borg el-Arab airports, along with a new runway and monorail for Cairo International Airport. The plan aims to increase the capacity of Egypt's airports from 28.8 million passengers annually to 52.6 million passengers this year and 80 million by the end of 2013. Manna pointed out that the inauguration of the new runway, air traffic control tower and multi-storey garage would be implemented by the end of 2012. "We are about to start working on Hurghada's new terminal, in synchronisation with establishing new terminal and runways in Sharm el Sheikh, due to the increasing numbers of tourists coming to el-Sallam City," he said. Manna added that investments on such projects since 2003 reached LE7.2 billion, expected to reach LE16.2 billion by the end of 2012, with the help of international funding institutions and with co-ordination and support from the Ministry of International Cooperation regarding the foreign components of the projects. As for local components, the funding will be local. According to Manna, this spending has resulted in creating, directly and indirectly, 39,000 jobs, rising to 78,400 by the end of 2012. He stated that the holding company planed to increase its total investment portfolio to LE16.2 billion as of 2012. As for the three projects, he said that the new terminal in Hurghada would increase the airport's capacity to 7.5 million passengers a year. It will be built on 92,000 square metres of land at a total cost of LE587 million. Meanwhile, the planned Cairo Airport hotel, connected with Terminal 3 by a bridge to facilitate the swift transfer of passengers from their aeroplanes to their rooms, will consist of 330 rooms, 20 luxury suites and a ballroom, capable of accommodating up to 400 people, as well as three swimming pools and three restaurants. It will cost a total of LE500 million. Aero City will be built on 2.8 million square metres of land, including a theme park, several shopping malls and 18 cinemas, at a total cost of LE950 million. These projects will take three years to complete.
