The airport’s new design is based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Service Level A standards, reports Oman Daily Observer.
New facilities and features of the new airport include a passenger terminal building, 28 contact gates, two runways, a 97-metre-high air traffic control tower, more than 7,000 parking spaces, dual 3 lanes access road and landscaping along the access and at the entrance to the airport, and new passenger terminal building.
The new passenger terminal building is designed in an aesthetic way, allowing light to travel through large spaces. The design is built to accommodate 12 million annual passengers, with a net floor area of 340,000 square metres. Large open areas with glass and other smooth surfaces posed a challenge to the acoustic comfort in the airport terminal. To overcome that, building- and room- acoustics design was modeled. The new design has reduced the noise and vibration levels.
The Muscat Airport project also includes some 70 buildings apart from the terminal, including a 97-metre high control tower and an Air Traffic Management Centre. The existing runway at the airport will be upgraded and supplemented with a new runway, with both of them to serve the world’s largest aircraft, the Airbus 380. The project includes additional 30 remote stands, multi-level parking facilities and a highway to the airport.
As reported in Oman Daily Observer, the design of the airport also accommodates future expansion. It is designed to accommodate 24 million passengers annually, followed by 36 million. With the final stage, Phase IV, of expansion, the airport’s capacity will reach to 48 million passengers annually.
US-based project management firm Hill International has secured a contract worth RO41.8 million ($108.5 million) for the expansion of Muscat and Salalah international airports in 2012.
