Page 279 - SHARJAH AIRPORT PR REPORT - FEBRUARY 2024

2/21/24, 10:51 AM PRESSR: Middle East airports expanding in a fast-forward mode to handle zooming passenger numbers — TradingView News
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 SR115 billion

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-

kilometre-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 new one

will be capable of handling 13 million by the time the first phase of the

development is completed in 2028. The expansion will include the construction

of passenger jetways, self-service facilities for passenger check-in and baggage

handling, and high-capacity parking facilities. Saudi Arabia is building in Riyadh
one of the world’s largest airports which will have six parallel runways. The

airport will help drive annual passenger traffic to 120 million by 2030 and 185

million by 2050.

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