Kuwait International Airport is located in Farwaniyah Governorate in Kuwait, 15.5 kilometers south of Kuwait City, spread over an area of 37.7 square kilometres.
The airport was first launched in the period of 1927-1928. It was originally envisioned as a stop for British planes on their way to Imperial India. The main airport structure was executed and completed by Al Hani Construction joint venture with Ballast Nedam, The Netherlands.
The airport underwent a massive renovation and expansion project from 1999–2001, in which the former parking lot was cleared and a terminal expansion was built. This incorporated new check-in areas, a new entrance to the airport, the construction of a multi-story parking structure, and an airport mall.
Kuwait International Airport can currently handle more than nine million passengers a year.
In 2011 the Department of Civil Aviation announced the intention of extending Kuwait International Airport so it can handle more passengers and more aircraft. On 3 October 2011, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced that a new Foster + Partners-designed terminal will begin construction in 2012 and will increase the annual passenger handling amount to 13 million passengers in its first phase with the option of expanding to 25 million passengers. The airport has finalized formalities for the construction of the terminal, which is due to begin construction in 2012 with completion by 2016. It would be built to the south of the current terminal complex with new access routes from the Seventh Ring Road to the south of the airport compound. It is designed as a three-pointed star, with each point extending 600 meters from the star's center. Two airside hotels will form part of the new building. In December 2012 the Kuwaiti Ministry of Public Works announced that the new Terminal at the Kuwait International Airport will be completed by the end of 2016, estimating the cost to be around 900 million Kuwaiti Dinar ($3.2 billion). As of June 2014, the firm have quit the project due to several reasons with the project half-way complete. In August 2014, the project is back on track with 3 new companies bidding.