Minister chairs ORAT committee meeting

Manama, Feb. 25 (BNA): Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and Bahrain Airport Company (BAC)’s chairman has chaired the 3rd meeting of the National Operations Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) Steering Committee, which was formed to manage the transition to the new Passengers Terminal at Bahrain International Airport (BIA). The Steering Committee was formed by Royal Edict 10/ 2017 issued by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister. The meeting included an overview of ORAT’s achievements for the previous year, including the operational readiness of the new Terminal being built as part of the Airport Modernisation Programme (AMP). It also outlined key challenges and topics for 2018 in several areas such as customs, airport police, immigration and others. In attendance were representatives from the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) and Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide. The minister said: "We are very happy with the steady progress of the AMP over the last year. With a project of such a massive scale, it is vital that all involved parties are aligned in the development process. The ORAT meetings allow us to achieve this and we are confident that we will build on the positive results from 2017 and get closer to our goal of transforming the airport into a driving economic force that reflects its position in the national economy." BAC Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah said: "We had a very productive meeting with members of the NOSC where the Committee was presented with an update on the progress which has been made by the stakeholders since the start of the ORAT project last year and also discussed targets for 2018. During the next few weeks, the ORAT Team will continue its engagement with the stakeholders to continue assessing their requirements and deliverables and ensure that the construction program is fully aligned with the ORAT trials starting in 2019." The $1.1 billion AMP, one of the largest infrastructural projects in the history of the Kingdom, will increase BIA’s total area to four times its current size and raise its capacity from 9 million to 14 million passengers per year.