MEBA2012: Minister reveals Bahrain airport expansion plan
Bahrain is set to announce further expansion of the country's international airport and increase the opportunities for business aviation.
Speaking at MEBA yesterday, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed, the country’s minister of transportation and acting CEO of the Economic Development Board, said that Bahrain’s strategic location at the heart of the Gulf, coupled with opportunities for 100% foreign ownership of companies, means the island state is ideal for business aviation.
“We are developing a fully integrated transport system in Bahrain and business aviation is an important part of that,” the minister said.
The airport will get a $1 billion overhaul as part of a plan to take capacity from nine million passengers to more than 13.5 million. Work will begin in 2014 with full details to be released “soon”.
“We welcome foreign investment,” he said. “We are 25 minutes away from the eastern province of Saudi Arabia across the causeway and there will be a causeway connecting Bahrain with Qatar. There is a good talented pool of well-educated, bi-lingual people. The kingdom’s economy has long been the most free and diversified in the region.”
The minister was at MEBA to support the promotion of the Bahrain International Air Show, which takes place in January 2014. He said it would see key delegations from Saudi and the other GCC states. “This is a unique event that maximises fundamental business benefits for all participants and visitors,” he added.
Arabian Aerospace Show Business is to be the official daily publication at the third Bahrain International Airshow, which takes place in 2014 from January 16-18. Bahrain’s deputy undersecretary for civil aviation, Ahmed Nemat Ali, signed an agreement with Arabian Aerospace editor-in-chief Alan Peaford at MEBA yesterday. Nemat Ali said: “We are very pleased to have Arabian Aerospace as the media partner for the event.”
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