Saudi Arabia’s aviation regulator General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) is understood to have shortlisted four bidders for the operation and maintenance contract of the under-construction King Abdulaziz International airport  in Jeddah.

The Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAHB) has told local media that it is the frontrunner for the contract. The other shortlisted bidders are said to include Turkish, Singaporean and French airport operators.

MAHB said it is now preparing to submit a more detailed proposal to the Saudi aviation regulator by middle of April.

Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International is Saudi Arabia’s busiest airport, handling 30 million passengers in 2015, a 7 per cent rise from the previous year. Aircraft movements and the volume of air cargo handled by the airport also registered significant increases year-on-year at 17 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively. King Abdulaziz International is the main gateway for Muslims who travel to the kingdom by air for the annual hajj and umrah pilgrimages.

The construction of the new terminal is expected to be completed by end of 2016, with operations to commence in 2017. It is understood that the existing passenger terminal will be converted into a cargo terminal.

The new terminal is designed with a capacity to handle 30 million passengers, and two further phases of the airport, to be completed by 2035 with an estimated budget of $20bn, are designed to bring the airport’s capacity to 80 million.

MAHB has also said it has been invited to prequalify as an airport operator for the Taif airport public-private partnership (PPP) project. The list of prequalified firms for the scheme is expected to be announced shortly.

The Gaca has set in motion a programme to privatise the kingdom’s 27 airports by 2020. King Abdulaziz International is scheduled to be privatised by the second quarter of 2017.

According to the Gaca privatisation guideline, foreign investors can own more than 75 per cent shares in some airports without being required to have a local partner.