Morocco’s Office National des Aeroports (ONDA) has broken ground on the new terminal at Morocco’s largest airport, Mohammed V International airport in Casablanca.

According to local media reports, ONDA awarded an estimated MD294m ($29m) deal for enabling works to local firm Societe de Travaux Agricoles Marocaine.

The Mohammed V International airport expansion is expected to be completed in 2029.

The tendering activity for the main works on the new terminal is also ongoing. In April, MEED reported that ONDA had issued a notice inviting firms to express interest in a contract to build the new terminal at Mohammed V International airport.

The estimated MD15bn ($1.6bn) expansion will increase the airport’s capacity to 30 million passengers a year.

In June, 28 local and international firms expressed interest in the contract to build the new terminal.

The new terminal will cover an area of about 450,000 square metres.

It is expected to be ready in time for the 2030 Fifa World Cup, which Morocco is co-hosting alongside Portugal and Spain.

In January, Morocco’s Transport & Logistics Minister, Abdessamad Kayouh, said that the study to expand the airport’s capacity was nearing completion.

The project is part of Morocco’s MD42bn ($4.3bn) plan to expand key airports in anticipation of increased passenger flow for the 2030 football World Cup.

Earlier this year, Morocco announced that it will also build a new airport in Casablanca in preparation for the tournament.

Morocco plans to upgrade several of its airports, including those in Tangier, Marrakech and Agadir, increasing their respective capacities to 7 million, 16 million and 7 million passengers annually.

There are also plans to add a new terminal at Rabat-Sale airport, raising its capacity to handle 4 million passengers, and to increase the capacity of Fez airport to 5 million passengers annually.

The new terminal at Mohammed V International airport will be connected to a high-speed train network that will link Kenitra to Marrakech.

In October last year, Morocco’s national railway operator, L’Office National des Chemins de Fer, awarded several civil works contracts for its Kenitra-Marrakech high-speed railway line.

This project is part of a $37bn strategy to connect more of Morocco’s cities, ports and airports by train. The line will stretch 375 kilometres (km) from Kenitra on the northwest coast to Marrakech in the south.

The project is divided into seven lots, each measuring between 36km and 64km. The rail link will traverse cities including Rabat, Sale, Casablanca and Marrakech.

The link will extend the Al-Boraq railway, a high-speed rail line between Tangier, Rabat and Casablanca. The line started operating in 2018 and was Africa’s first high-speed railway system.