Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) has invited firms to bid by 15 January for the contract to supply and install security surveillance systems at key airports.

The package covers multiple airports including those located in Hail, northern region, Al-Jouf, Mecca, Najran, Riyadh, Tabuk, Al-Baha, and Qassim areas.

Last week, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman led the cornerstone laying ceremony for two airports in the kingdom’s northern Al-Jouf region.

However, MEED understands Gaca has yet to award the main contract for the two airports.

According to Gaca, Al-Jouf airport will have the capacity to handle one million passengers annually while Qurayyat airport will be able to accommodate half a million passengers a year.

Both schemes are part of the 12 airport projects, which Gaca grouped into four different packages and tendered in 2017.

The rest of the 12 airport projects are either under review or under procurement.

Last week, SaudiGulf Airlines, the kingdom’s second full-service carrier, signed a $2.1bn order for 10 Airbus A320/A321neo aircraft with an option to acquire 10 more.

They expect delivery to commence in the second half of 2019, at a rate of eight new aircraft a year.

SaudiGulf began commercial operations in October 2016.

Passenger traffic at Saudi Arabia’s airports grew by approximately 8 per cent in 2017.