Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) is meeting consultants this week to discuss the plans for the Taif International airport, the kingdom’s second airport public-private partnership (PPP) project.

The agency confirmed in December last year that it plans to tender the design, finance, build and operate contract for the airport in 2017, with 2020 as the target completion date.

Gaca had previously been advised by the Washington-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) on the project. The proposed PPP airport scheme reached the prequalification stage in early 2016 before it was put on hold.

The new airport will be located northeast of Taif Province near Souk Okaz, which is about 120 kilometres from Mecca. It will have a design capacity for up to five million passengers annually and will eventually reach eight million passengers in future, according to Gaca.

The airport will initially include one runway extending 4,300 metres, with a provision for a second runway if required.

When completed, it will be the third international airport catering to hajj and umrah visitors in addition to the King Abdulaziz International airport in Jeddah, the country’s busiest, and Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International in Medina. The Medina airport was the kingdom’s first airport PPP.

The kingdom expects annual pilgrims to reach 30 million annually by 2030.