Saudi Arabia airport tender to be awarded

A proposed hanger for Jeddah airport

Here at Infrastructure MENA, we have kept track of Saudi Arabia's airport modernisation plans will the Kingdom spending more than $15 billion (SR17 billion) in modernising their two airports. Now it appears that their plans are one step closer to being accomplished.

According to Abdullah Ruhaimi, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the Kingdom may award contracts to build a new terminal at Jeddah's airport by the end of the year.

Jeddah's airport and airport city has long been on the cards for modernisation, with the aim that the city becomes a gateway for millions of Muslim pilgrims to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Currently the airport receives 18 million passengers a year and expects to see an increase of up to 30 million by 2013.

Speaking to the press, Ruhaimi said, "We are done with qualifying the bidders and evaluating their bids. It's now up to the committee to decide on the winner and I guess this will happen before year end."

The plans to develop and upgrade airports by 2020 would see over $15 billion put into the Kingdom's aviation hubs.

Plans are taking off

The capital Riyadh is also going to get a 'airport city', with Dammam in the the eastern province, the source of most of Saudi oil wealth, will follow later.

Last year, Engineer Abdullah Noor Rahimi, GACA president said regarding Saudi Arabia' airport cities, "Each airport will be a separate city where people can live, shop, study, and attend international conferences, in addition to enjoying many other services. Accessibility is vital for these cities, and the size of the Kingdom means that surface transport is not a viable option for business travelers seeking to invest in new cities. Therefore, we are upgrading or contracting for the establishment of airports which will serve each of the economic cities."

Medina will also be getting a new airport that is estimated to have cost between $1-2 billion (SR7-8 billion) and will increase traffic to the holy city from three million to eight million passengers a year.

Relevant articles:

Airport cities taking flight in ME | Middle Eastern air traffic - fastest growing in the world? | Al Maktoum Airport

Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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