Dr. Moustafa Madbouly - Prime Minister, visited Sharm El-Sheikh to follow up on the development projects that are in full swing; in implementation of the mandates of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of the Republic, to make the city at its best during Egypt’s hosting of the 27th session of COP27 Climate Change Conference, which is scheduled to be held in November.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Dr. Yasmine Fouad - Minister of Environment, Dr. Assem El Gazzar - Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, Lieutenant General Kamel El Wazir -Minister of Transport, Lieutenant General Mohammed Abbas - Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr. Ahmed Eissa - Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, and Major General Khaled Fouda - Governor South Sinai, Dr. Enas Samir - Deputy Governor, a number of officials from the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, Eng. Sayed Farouk – CEO & Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, and leaders and officials of the ministries, governorate and authorities.
Dr. Moustafa Madbouly also said that he is keen to personally follow up on the development projects in Sharm El Sheikh.
"When we started to prepare for this conference, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi affirmed the need for this global event to reflect the huge progress Egypt is witnessing in the environment sector and the transition to clean energy," he added.
"This comes within the framework of the Egyptian state’s continued efforts to fulfill its commitments toward humanity through protecting the environment and display the Egyptian modern state’s image and efforts in implementing the sustainable development strategy Egypt Vision 2030," he further said.
The Prime Minister began his tour by inspecting the development work of Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, where Lieutenant General Mohamed Abbass - Minister of Civil Aviation, accompanied the Prime Minister and his companions to inspect the airport development work, which included developing the efficiency of facilities, roads, infrastructure, and utilities of the airport. The development plan included the entrances and exits of the airport; the expansion of the departure and arrival halls in Terminal (2), in addition to the expansion of passenger waiting areas, raising the efficiency of car parks in Terminal (2), and developing the entrance gate to accommodate the largest number of cars. He pointed out that the development plan was implemented in cooperation with the Arab Contractors Company.
Major General Pilot Nabil Al-Mallah, Director of Sharm El Sheikh Airport, declared that the development work of the departure and arrival halls in Terminal 2 has been accomplished and entered into service, noting that the objective of expansion and development is to raise the terminal’s capacity from 2.5 million to 5 million passengers. Thus, the total area of the building after the expansion and development works reached 36.000 m2, compared to 18.000 m2 before the development works.
The Prime Minister also inspected the development of the domestic arrival hall; Major General Pilot Nabil Al-Mallah indicated that this hall was added with an area of 1000 m2 and 2 baggage belts, and an exit hall for international and domestic arrivals with an area of 2,000 m 2 was added. The development work also included raising the efficiency of the service roads area in front of the international and domestic access exit.
Then, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly inspected the expansion works of the passport area and the entrance to the VIP hall built upon 1000 m2. He also inspected the expansion works of the entrance to domestic travel. Nabil Al-Mallah - Director of Sharm El-Sheikh Airport explained that it was implemented to accommodate 3 inspection gates, in addition to developing the international arrival procedures area; which included the establishment of new administrative offices that include 40 offices and clinics, in addition to the expansion of the international access counters from 6 to 22 counters, in addition to the "counters" of tourism offices and banks, which were added, as well as the expansion of the passport counters area (existing hall) where the number of counters has been increased from 6 to 14.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly inspected the development work inside and outside Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, as the travel gates in 2 buildings with a total area 3000 m2, in order to increase the number of gates from 9 to 12 gates, represented by 3 gates for domestic travel, and 1 gate with a separate transit hall, and 8 international travel gates. Besides, the development work includes the rehabilitation of the bathrooms of the existing hall. Then, he inspected the developing work of the runway and the auxiliary and secondary runways. He was accompanied by Lieutenant General Kamel El Wazir - the Minister of Transport, to explain the dimensions of the development project which was implemented under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport, through the Egyptian Company for the Self-Maintenance of Roads & Airports affiliated to the Ministry.
The Minister of Transport pointed out that Sharm El Sheikh International Airport development project is considered one of the sustainable development projects being implemented in the green city of Sharm El Sheikh, as part of the ongoing preparations to host the Climate Change Conference, stated that the city, which is an icon of Egyptian tourism and a destination for international conferences, is witnessing an important transformation represented in the use of renewable and clean energy, sustainable transportation, and the use of environmentally friendly alternatives.
Eng. Sobhi Rabia - Chairman of the Egyptian Company for the Self-Maintenance of Roads & Airports said that when President of the Republic launched the development work of Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, which included the comprehensive development of runway 04R, auxiliary and secondary runways, the company developed runway 04L using modern preventive maintenance, so that the airport appears in the best way to receive the leaders and delegations of the countries participating in the conference and the tourist delegations that flock to the city throughout the year.
While inspecting the level of implementation, company officials continued to explain to the Prime Minister the most important works completed in the development project, stating that the company is developing the runway using cutting-edge green pavement maintenance technology, which helps reduce carbon emissions and rationalise energy and fuel consumption, while reusing materials to conserve environmental resources.The company uses Full Depth Recycling technology (FDR) and Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR) in the main corridor, which is 3081 m long, 45 m wide, and 12 secondary corridors with a total length of 3050 m.
Dr. Moustafa Madbouly also followed up on the ongoing development works at the entrances and exits of Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, which are implemented by the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, and the efforts are underway to increase the capacity of tarmacs to hit 67 planes instead of 46, one of the officials at the Armed Forces Engineering Authority told Madbouli during his tour.
He added that a new area for ground equipment is also being constructed, with a total area of 10,000 m2, in addition to raising the efficiency of the roads located in front of Terminal 1. The efficiency of different roads is also being raised; in addition to establishing 2 parking areas for 180 cars and 20 buses, and raising the efficiency of the foreign delegations and journalists' building, and the VIP building.
The Engineering Authority official declared that the development work includes the development of the entry gate to accommodate the largest number of cars during inspection, through 4 entry lanes. Besides, the construction of an exit gate with 4 traffic lanes. The development work includes raising the efficiency of the sidewalks in front of Terminal 1, raising the efficiency of the car parking area in front of Terminal 2. Besides, the construction of a civilized wall in the car parking area, as well as the landscape work.