Iranshahr Terminal is projected to become "Iran’s biggest airport terminal" with an annual capacity of 100 million passengers upon completion.
Imam Khomeini Airport Company’s Office for Communications, Information and International Affairs told Financial Tribune, following a call issued for inviting international and domestic companies to present designs for the terminal, 34 foreign companies showed interest, four of which have been qualified to compete along with four domestic companies for the final design.
The winner will be announced in the new Iranian year (starting March 21, 2019), according to Financial Tribune.
According to the head of IKAC's board of directors, Ali Rostami, Iranshahr Terminal’s first development phase has been designed to handle 25 million passengers per year, which will reach 100 million passengers in its final phase.
The terminal will be spread across 410,000 square meters, increasing to 655,000 square meters upon the project’s completion.
The terminal will be spread across 410,000 square meters, increasing to 655,000 square meters upon the project’s completion
According to Shahram Adamnejad, deputy minister of roads for transportation affairs, the project will be carried out in the form of BOT (build–operate–transfer)—a form of project financing, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the private or public sector to finance, design, construct, own and operate a facility stated in the concession contract. This enables the project executor to recover its investment, operating and maintenance expenses in the project.
IKIA presently has a passenger capacity of five million passengers per year. However, the airport hosted over nine million passengers in the last fiscal year (March 2017-18)—well above capacity.
Salam Terminal, another terminal under construction at IKIA, is expected to become operational "soon". When it becomes operational, the terminal’s passenger capacity would exceed 15 million people.
The airport’s passenger capacity will reach 120 million per year upon the completion of the two terminals.
“We are looking to turn Imam Khomeini Airport City into an air transport center and an economic engine for Tehran, the country and the region by facilitating air transportation and related services,” Adamnejad told Financial Tribune in an earlier interview as the managing director of IKAC.
Latest data show Imam Khomeini International Airport registered 38,258 takeoffs and landings during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Dec. 21) to register a 17% fall compared with the similar period of last year, while transporting over 5.86 million passengers and 112,172 tons of cargos to rank third on the list of Iran’s busiest airports.