Saudi Arabia’s 27 airports handled close to 92 million passengers in 2017, a 7.7 per cent increase compared with the previous year.

The number of passengers handled by the kingdom’s five international airports grew at an even higher rate, registering an 8.3 per cent increase compared with the 2016 figure.

According to the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca), 78 million passengers, or 85 per cent of the total, flew through the international airports in Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Medina and Taif.

Aircraft movement at all airports increased by 4.6 per cent to reach 741,000 in 2017, the aviation regulator reported.

The kingdom's aviation sector growth, however, is dwarfed by the double-digit increase registered in Kuwait and Oman, where airports absorbed intermediary traffic created since June last year by the closure of air spaces in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE to Qatar.

Saudi Arabia is undertaking a comprehensive airport expansion programme in response to rapid passenger traffic growth and the kingdom's economic diversification strategy.

The new passenger terminal at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International airport will start soft operations in May, while a $2.1bn renovation project is under way at Riyadh’s King Khalid International.

A new terminal is being developed in Taif as a public-private partnership (PPP).

A tender document for the expansion of 10 airports and the development of two new airports was released last year, although the tendering process has stalled pending the completion of design works.

In addition to the airport in Taif, three other airport PPP projects are under way in Yanbu, Al-Qassim and Hail.

The Royal Commission of Jubail & Yanbu (RCJY) is also planning a new airport to support the expansion of Jubail’s industrial complex.

Gaca aims to privatise all airports in the kingdom between 2017 and 2020. It appointed US-based Goldman Sachs last year to advise on Riyadh airport's minority share sale.

However, Gaca cancelled the 20-year operation and management contract with Changi Airports Saudi Arabia for the new Jeddah airport in February, 10 months after its award. A new tender is yet to be issued.

Source: Gaca