Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) has terminated the 20-year contract it signed last year with Changi Airports Saudi Arabia (Casa) for the operation and management of Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International airport.

MEED reported in January that the contract was under review, which Casa, a joint venture of Singapore-based Changi Airports International and local firm Saudi Naval Support Company, denied.

At the time the consortium said it had already established the management team for the new airport and is preparing for the Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (Orat) programme for the airport.

In a statement on 21 February, the joint venture confirmed receiving the notice of termination from Gaca.

The consortium noted that Gaca has chosen to terminate the agreement for the operation and management of the new King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, in accordance with the concession agreement which is to terminate for convenience.

The consortium also added that it strictly observed the request for proposal process stipulated by Gaca and  submitted all required documentation for Gaca's review and had obtained all requisite approvals prior to the award of the concession.

Gaca awarded the contract to Casa on 30 April last year, a mere seven days from the submission of bids.

It was the second round of tender for the contract. Both the CAI-led consortium and another team led by France’s Aeroports de Paris Management (ADPM) submitted an offer for the contract in July 2016 but the tender was cancelled the following month.

Both teams submitted an offer when Gaca re-issued the tender in early 2017.

King Abdulaziz International airport is Saudi Arabia’s largest airport in terms of passenger traffic; it handled 31.15 million passengers in 2016, some 3.5 per cent more than in 2015.

Gaca said the new airport aims to be operational by mid-2018, or shortly before the hajj season commences this year.

The redevelopment of the airport began in 2010 when Gaca awarded local Saudi Binladin Grouptwo contracts worth a combined $7.2bn for the overhaul of the existing terminal at the airport and the construction of a new one. The new terminal has a design capacity of 30 million passengers annually.

The masterplan for the airport envisages increasing its capacity to up to 43 million passengers a year by 2025 and 80 million passengers annually by 2035.

Appointing a private operator for the Jeddah airport is in line with the kingdom’s plan to privatise all its airports in the immediate future.