As the capacity of the Departure Terminal is undersized in relation to the passenger flow, the beneficiary wanted to expand and modernise the terminal. Thus, it was proposed to extend it northwards, both on the ground floor and on the lower floor, in the area of the boarding gates for internal and external flights.

The technical and functional solution aims at connecting the new structural elements directly to the existing ones, so the level of precision required in relation to the identification of the existing situation is very high, especially as we are talking about a metal structure with small tolerances in assembly.

The first step in the design of the future structure was the 3D laser scanning of the existing structure. This first step provided accurate and complete information about the position of structural and non-structural elements and was the basis for the technical expertise carried out by one of our MDLPA certified experts.

The solution for this project was to generate the Digital Twin model, by faithfully reproducing the existing situation in a digital model. Field information was collected using 3D laser scanning, providing maximum accuracy in measurements, collecting a large volume of information in a relatively short time, significantly reducing the resources required for data collection. Airport operations were not interrupted during the scanning process.

From a structural point of view, the terminal development consists of the extension of the two existing buildings on the ground and first floor with a structure similar to the existing one.

Basically, two lines of metal columns with a Maltese cross section have been inserted and the existing beams have been extended with metal girders.

The present departure terminal is extended to the first floor by extending the existing columns from the ground floor to the first floor with the same section and by creating a floor with main and secondary metal beams. The extension floor will be composite reinforced concrete with secondary steel beams.

In one area of the existing terminal, the reinforced concrete floor slab over the ground floor will extend inwards from the façade by 5.50 m.

In addition, a number of lifts and stairs have been introduced which required special shafts to be built into the floor above the basement. A special case is that of the escalator introduced on the ground floor, an escalator which requires a reinforced concrete shaft in the floor above the basement, which cuts the beam of the floor above the basement in a certain axis and for which a reinforced concrete pillar has been inserted in the basement.

The foundations of the extension are continuous reinforced concrete foundations.