Spanish builder Ferrovial, which owns British airports operator BAA, said Friday it signed a contract to build a new terminal at London´s Heathrow airport together with Britain´s Laing O´Rourke for 812 million pounds (900 million euros).

The new terminal will replace Terminal 2 and the Queens building which date from the 1950s and it will have the capacity to serve 20 million passengers a year, the company said in a statement.

The contract, which includes design and construction of the new terminal building as well as the access road, a new cooling plant and aircraft stands, is Ferrovial´s largest since it entered the British market in 2003.

Alejandro de la Joya, the CEO of Ferrovial´s construction unit Ferrovial Agroman, said the contract was of “strategic” importance for the company´s international growth.

“It strengthens the outlook for presenting Ferrovial Agroman with further business opportunities in the near future in the key UK market,” he said in the statement.

Star Alliance airlines, whose 26 members include United Airlines, Air China, Singapore Airlines and Air Canada, will be based at the new terminal.

Ferrovial has operated Heathrow, Europe´s busiest hub, since it scooped up BAA in 2006 for 10.23 billion pounds.

Like other Spanish builders, Ferrovial has been seeking to boost its foreign investment to offset weakness in Spain, which has been stuck in a deep recession since the collapse of a property bubble at the end of 2008.

The company posted a net loss of 92.4 million euros last year, compared to a net loss of 812 million euros in 2008.

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via AFP: Spain’s Ferrovial to build new Heathrow terminal.