The Saudi government has allocated land for the new economic airport at Qunfudah in the north area of Makkah province, which will built on a build-transfer-operate (BTO) system.

A team of airport planning engineers and Geomatics architects and surveyors for the General Directorate of Engineering Services Airport Sector at the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) received the newly allocated site for the airport. Work will soon start on the planning and design of the project, it stated.  

GACA said the move is in line with its plans to establish a new international airport in Taif region during the next phase, and an economic airport in Qunfudah.

The new Taif airport will be considered the new gateway for Haj and Umrah and is consistent with the kingdom vision 2030, where it’s expected that the number of pilgrims to reach 30 million, it stated.

According to GACA, it is working on a project designed to meet the highest international standards, and to be built through the BTO system.  

Th civil aviation authority felt the need for the development of the new airport to cope with the increasing passenger traffic, especially after the GACA board of directors approved the transformation of Taif airport from a regional airport into an international facility.

Also the increase in passenger numbers at Taif airport and the surging demand for international flights, especially haj and umrah flights, added to the pressure.  

The project, which will be the kingdom's fifth international airport, will be located northeast of Taif province. It is located near Souk Okaz about 120 km from Makkah.

The new airport's terminals will able to receive five million passengers annually, which will eventually reach eight million.

The airport will start operations with one 4,300-m runway able to accommodate Code (F) aircraft, although two runways will be taken into account during the design phase, said the statement from GACA.

A request for proposal (RFP) will be issued to determine the winning investor who will be in charge of building, operating and managing the new Taif International Airport next year.

GACA will soon sign a concession contract for the operation of the current airport, in addition to handing over to the winning investor the allocated site for the new airport with full service logistics to start the construction of the airport which is slated to open in 2020.

Tareq Al Abduljabbar, the assistant to the president for airports, said both Taif and Qunfudah airport projects will dramatically boost the services for Makkah region.

Abduljabbar said several international consortiums are in the race for the Taif project contract which will based on build–operate–transfer (BOT) system to raise operating efficiency and increase revenues through partnership with the private sector.

GACA has been co-ordinating with relevant government agencies to complete the project on schedule, he added.-TradeArabia News Service