China Construction Third Engineering Bureau has won a US$382 million contract awarded by the Pakistan government to rebuild Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, located in the capital of Punjab province.

The same company has already been involved in other projects in Pakistan, including a segment of the Karachi-Lahore Expressway. It will be responsible for procurement, project engineering and construction of the expanded Lahore airport, turning it into the largest in Pakistan.

China is active in many projects across Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative which is an important component of the Belt Road. China is funding the construction of New Gwadar International Airport as part of the CPEC.

Last September, Spanish engineering project consultancy TYPSA presented its expansion design for Lahore International Airport to the Prime Minister and the country’s airport authorities.

The design, which was commissioned by the Pakistani government earlier in the year, will allow the current Lahore airport to increase its annual handling capacity from 4.5 million passengers to over 25 million passengers.

The new building will have a gross floor area of 325,000 square metres with thirty-one boarding bridges, while the aircraft parking apron and taxiways will be extended by 310,000 square metres. A new underground multi-story car park and a new air cargo terminal area will also be built. The current access roads will be restructured to cope with the required capacity.

The Spanish office of GilBartolomé Architects have designed the new terminal. Construction work will start by the end of 2017.

According to the architects, some of the greatest challenges were the need to integrate the existing terminal aesthetically and functionally into the final scheme and keeping it operative throughout the process of the construction works. The existing terminal has a current capacity of 4.5 million passengers per year.

Photo: Akash0078/Wikipedia