Dammam Airports Company (Dammam Airports) expects to sign a contract in the first half of the year to operate a second airport in Saudi Arabia.

According to According to Turki Aljawini, Dammam Airports CEO, the second airport caters to both international and domestic flights.

“We’re looking forward to operating the second airport, we are still awaiting final decision from concerned authorities… to take over that airport,” Aljawini tells MEED.

However, he ruled out Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International, which recently cancelled a 20-year operation and maintenance contract with a joint venture led by Singapore-based Changi Airports International.

Dammam Airports was formed in July 2017 to operate and manage Dammam’s King Fahd International airport, the kingdom’s third largest airport in terms of passenger volume.

Dammam airport is frequently referred to as the eastern gateway due to its strategic location and proximity to the headquarters of oil giant Saudi Aramco and petrochem firm Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic), as well as to the Jubail industrial complex.

Dammam Airports signed a contract on 7 May with UK-based Serco Group for the provision of fire and rescue services for King Fahd International airport. It also appointed the Netherlands’ Vanderlande to install a new baggage handling system at King Fahd International. Installation of the new baggage handling system is expected to be completed in 2020.

Last year, Dammam awarded Spanish consultancy Ineco the contract to develop a 50-year masterplan for King Fahd International airport. The work entails expanding all airport facilities to cater to growing passenger demand as well as the study of the connection of the airport’s cargo area with Saudi Arabia’s main rail freight line.

King Fahd International trails Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International and Riyadh’s King Khaled International in terms of annual passenger traffic.