Page 273 - SHARJAH AIRPORT PR REPORT - FEBRUARY 2024

ordered another 120 aircraft -- 90 Boeing-777s for Emirates and 30
Boeing-787s for flydubai.

Sharjah, home to the Arabian Gulf’s first airport, has started work on
an Dh.1.2 billion ($327 million) terminal expansion that will increase
the airport’s capacity to 20 million passengers a year. The expansion
project will separate the arrivals from departures areas and enhance its
systems and amenities. It is the largest phase of expansion work being
undertaken at a total cost of Dh. 2.4 billion and is expected to be
completed in 2027. Improvements will include additional self-check-in
kiosks, electronic boarding gates, a spacious waiting zone, dining
facilities, and a transit passenger hotel.

Sharjah Airport, home of the MENA region’s largest low-cost carrier
(LCC) Air Arabia, added six new passenger destinations and three air
cargo routes in 2023. The airport handled about 13.1 million
passengers in 2022 and will be able to handle up to 25 million
passengers by 2026.

A plan is underway to transform King Abdelaziz International Airport
(KAIA) in Saudi Arabia into one of the world’s largest airports with an
115 billion Saudi riyal expansion plan that will increase its capacity to
114 million passengers a year. The largest components of the plan
cover the design and expansion of Terminal 1 and the construction of a
new passenger terminal to be called Terminal 2. The expected
completion date for the expansion project is 2031.

A new Hajj and Umrah terminal at the airport in Jeddah will handle 15
million passengers a year and is expected to be completed by 2025.
The airport aims to accommodate up to 120 million passengers by
2030 and 185 million by 2050. For cargo, the goal is to process 3.5

million tons a year.

Another major airport is planned for Neom, close to the Tabuk end of
the 170-kilometer-long Line development. Neom International Airport’s
first phase will have the capacity to handle 25 million passengers a
year. A second phase could take the capacity up to 50 million
passengers a year. There is an aspiration for the airport to become the
largest in the world, with a capacity of 100 million passengers a year.
Abha International Airport will undergo a makeover that will see its
terminal grow from 113,000 square feet to 700,000 square feet.

The existing airport can handle 1.5 million passengers annually. The

https://english.alarabiya.net/business/aviation-and-transport/2024/02/20/Dubai-to-host-mega-
airport-show-as-region-s-airports-set-for-capacity-expansion