CAIRO - The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation inaugurated, in the presence of Captain Sameh Al-Hefni, head of the Civil Aviation Authority, pilot Hassan al-Tuhami Secretary General of the Ministry and administrators of the Ministries of Aviation and Tourism on Tuesday, the upgrading works of Hurghada International Airport and the new passenger terminal building 2 following its development works, which included increasing its efficiency and capacity at a cost of about one billion pounds.  This comes in line with the expected increase in the number of tourist groups coming to and from Hurghada one of the most important tourist attractions in the world.

Within the objectives of the modernization plan to increase the efficiency and capacity of the Egyptian airports infrastructure and provide them with the latest technological systems worldwide through a master plan utilizing the available resources and rationalizing expenses in proportion to the intensity of operations and increase in numbers of passengers coming to Egypt, a four-kilometer marked out runway was constructed at a cost of LE 486 million and the new passenger building that will accommodate about 7.5 million passengers annually. The latest security services were implemented according to international worldwide standards and will provide the best services to travelers. The building has two departure and arrival areas, 11 departure gates connected to the aircraft by direct bridges and nine departure gates for remote bus service. The new building accommodates 45% of the total number of operated flights to and from the airport including most European and domestic flights.

The building consists of 72 counters for arrivals and baggage check-ups as well as 2 counters for large luggage service. The infrastructure of the international departure area, the conveyor belt and baggage sorting area has been developed through an automatic transmission system that includes six conveyor belts for passenger departures and nine electric conveyors to receive the luggage of incoming passengers. It includes also the implementation of a security surveillance camera system and an electronic door control system with 486 cameras including an increase in the storage capacity of cameras, and the installation of additional system for the automatic detection of conveyor belts and the development of warning system and automatic fire fighting. An additional biometric gate in the sorting area was installed altogether with explosives detection devices. The departure and arrival area suspended ceiling was extended to reach 17500 m 2. The lighting system was modernized with energy-saving lamps and the efficiency of the lighting system was upgraded. On the overall, embellishment and harmonization of the general location of the site through the renovation of the inside building painting and the development of 35 aircraft supply lines with 56 points to serve 27 aircraft, as well as the development of airfield at the airport based on several projects, the most important of which is the construction of a main corridor with a length of 4000 and 60 meters and 6 links between the main corridor and parallel taxi and their lighting and the implementation of protection work from flood.