The contract was signed with the group that includes Turkey's TAV Insaat, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Co and Dubai's Arabtec ARTC.DU, a statement from operator Abu Dhabi Airports Co ADAC.L said.

Construction of the complex will begin in the third quarter and is expected to be concluded in 2017.

"Abu Dhabi Airports Co is looking ahead to an exciting five years of growth focusing on increasing traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport and on expanding the airport's infrastructure to support this growth," Ali Majed Al Mansoori, chairman of ADAC said in the statement.

The 700,000-square-meter terminal building is one of the key strategic infrastructure projects to be undertaken in the UAE capital, and will initially handle 30 million passengers per year. It will be the future home of Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways.

The project will include two phases, the four-year construction phase and the operational readiness assessment phase to undertake tests, the statement said.

In May, ADAC had said it identified the consortium as the preferred bidder for the contract . Reuters had reported in April that the consortium was close to winning the contract.

Abu Dhabi's state-owned investment firm Aabar is the main shareholder in Arabtec.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, home to one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, is investing billions of dollars in tourism, industry and infrastructure as it diversifies its economy away from oil.

Shares in Arabtec ended 0.4 percent higher on the Dubai bourse. Akfen Holding (AKFEN.IS), the holding company of TAV Insaat, was trading up 3.1 percent on the Istanbul stock exchange as at 1030 GMT. (Reporting By Stanley Carvalho; Editing by Dinesh Nair)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency