JEDDAH, 22 August 2003 — The Presidency of Civil Aviation (PCA) is weighing prospects of establishing a new regional airport in the northwestern coastal city of Dhuba after its seaport has reportedly become a major hub for Gulf passengers traveling to Egypt and other African countries.
“The PCA in cooperation with Saudi Arabian Airlines is studying the project after the successes achieved by the Dhuba Commercial Port,” Al-Jazirah newspaper reported, adding that the opening of an airport would further increase the number of passengers intending to use the seaport.
Dhuba, the closest Saudi port to Africa, is equipped with modern shipping facilities and is now geared to receive more than 50,000 passengers and 5,000 cars within the next few weeks as passengers including Egyptian workers will be returning to the Gulf after their summer holidays.
This year Dhuba port witnessed record passenger traffic with some 430,000 passengers using the port over the past seven months — seven percent more than last year’s 403,900. It also received 534 ships and handled 18,896 cars during the same period.
The PCA opened a new airport in Dawadmi in the Central Province last April. Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, inaugurated the airport named after Riyadh Governor Prince Salman.
Established at a cost of SR150 million, the Dawadmi airport is designed to handle one million passengers a year. It will serve more than 400 towns and villages in the region.
Dawadmi, located 250 km west of Riyadh, is the third civilian airport in the Riyadh region and the 27th in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom has spent more than SR50 billion ($13.3 billion) on airport construction and expansion over the past two decades. There are three international airports in the Kingdom.
King Fahd International Airport in Dammam is the largest, with a capacity to handle 16 million passengers by 2005.
