The contract to build Heathrow’s new Terminal 2 has been officially signed between JV HETCo and BAA.

Joint venture (JV) HETCo – Ferrovial Agroman and Laing O’Rourke – has officially signed the £812 million (€900m) deal with BAA to build its new Terminal 2 at London’s Heathrow Airport.

 Under the contract – the largest construction job ever awarded by the airport operator – the joint venture will excavate the site and build the 40,000 square metres main structure as well as constructing ten aircraft parking stands.

The new building will replace the current Terminal 2 and the Queens Building, which date from the 1950s, and it is expected to be inaugurated in the first half of 2014.

It will have the capacity to serve 20 million passengers each year and its innovative design will reduce CO2 emissions by 40%. Heathrow, which inaugurated its new Terminal 5 in 2008, is set to become one of Europe’s most modern and sustainable airports.

The T2A project includes the design and construction of the new Terminal building, aircraft stands, the connection with the T2B satellite building, the access road, a new cooling plant and all related services. HETCo will also be responsible for the full coordination and integration of the baggage systems and the building’s information controls systems both within the new terminal and into the Heathrow wide network.

The JV was appointed to construct Terminal 2 in 2008, following its selection after a tender process as one of BAA’s nine construction suppliers.

The deal was signed by BAA’s Chief Executive Colin Matthews and Capital Director Steven Morgan and Ignacio Clopes and Ray O’Rourke of HETCo.

Steven Morgan said: “This is BAA’s largest ever single construction contract, and I am confident that it represents great value for our airlines and for the millions of passengers that will benefit from its modern, new facilities.

“The HETCo team has demonstrated to us that they will deliver this project in a timely and efficient way, and to a high standard.”

For more information on Heathrow’s Terminal 2, click here.