Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has announced the masterplan for King Salman International airport in Riyadh. If completed on time in 2030, it will become the largest airport in the world in terms of passenger capacity.

The aim is for the airport to accommodate up to 120 million passengers by 2030 and 185 million passengers by 2050. For cargo, the goal is to process 3.5 million tonnes a year by 2050.

It will cover an area of about 57 square kilometres, allowing for six parallel runways, and will include the existing terminals at King Khalid International airport.

The project will also include 12 sq km of airport support facilities, residential and recreational facilities, retail outlets and other logistics real estate.

Saudi Arabia is targeting a $100bn investment in the transportation and logistics sector by 2030.

The kingdom plans to transport more than 300 million passengers and five million tonnes of goods, and create links with 250 destinations by the end of the decade.

Saudi gigaprojects gear up for $569bn of contract awards

MEED's latest special report on Saudi Arabia includes: 

> COMMENT | Saudi Arabia’s finances and ambition align
> ECONOMY | Saudi economy soars as globe flounders
> GOVERNMENT | Riyadh looks to renew investor appetite
> BANKING | Saudi lenders eye new growth opportunities
> UPSTREAM | Aramco paces ahead with upstream projects
> DOWNSTREAM | Saudi downstream schemes register progress
> CHEMICALS | Saudi Arabia accelerates chemical projects
> POWER: Saudi Arabia needs to ramp up renewables
> WATER | Riyadh to implement over $30bn of water projects
> CONSTRUCTION | Major projects drive Saudi construction