JEDDAH, 16 March 2004 — Plans are under way to establish an airport in the historical region of Al-Ula, home to the ancient Nabatean settlement of Madain Saleh.

“The design of the airport will be completed this year and tenders will be called for next year to implement the project,” Ahmed Al-Sudairy, Al-Ula’s governor, said.

Sudairy hoped that the airport would be operational within four years. It should boost tourist traffic to Madain Saleh and other historical sites in the region. Currently tourists fly to Madinah and then travel on by road.

Abdullah Rahaimy, president of the Civil Aviation Commission, said that his organization was planning to establish the airport to promote business and tourism in the region. “We have already asked a competent company to conduct a feasibility study for a new airport in Al-Ula,” he said.

There are 27 airports in the Kingdom, including three international airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

Located about 370 kilometers northwest of Madinah, the Al-Ula region has 72 villages and a population of over 100,000 people.

Emphasizing the tourist potential from developing the archaeological sites, Sudairy said that the new development plans for the region would turn Al-Ula into one of the major tourist centers in the Middle East.

“I expect that within the next 10 years Al-Ula will make tremendous progress and will become one of the major tourist attractions not only locally and nationally but for the whole Middle East,” he claimed.

Sudairy highlighted Al-Ula’s importance on the Kingdom’s tourism map.

“There are many tourist cities in the Kingdom like Jeddah, Abha and Baha. But you will find places like Madain Saleh only in Al-Ula,” Okaz daily quoted him as saying.

Other development plans include a college of tourism and antiquities, new roads and two hospitals and a major recreation center.

“The Madinah Regional Council has approved the opening of the tourism college at the King Saud University. We have made the infrastructure ready and the college will be opened soon. It’s only a matter of time,” Sudairy said.