The government of Egypt has said it will aim to start construction on a new airport city in the area surrounding Cairo International Airport in January 2014
If built, the city would cover an area measuring up to 10mn sqm and would cost somewhere in the region of US$14.5bn, according to Egyptian civil aviation minister Abdel Aziz Fadel. Aecom has been named as the project's masterplan and conceptual design consultant.
Speaking to Zawya, Fadel said, "The [airport city] is considered a giant national project [that will take] about seven years [to complete] in all its phases. [The city will] provide more than 100,000 direct jobs."
"The new project is a complete city around the airport [and will] include a new trade free zone, cargo village, factories belonging to the civil aviation for packaging and food [outlets]. In addition, entertainment area, administrative offices, hotels and a hospital [will be built]."
While still in its planning stage, the Egyptian authorities said they expected to the first phase of the project in January 2014. According to the authorities, the project would also include the construction of a number of business training centres and a solar power plant.
