JEDDAH, 18 January 2007 — Travelers going through Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz Airport will have less to complain about four years from now. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced yesterday at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) its ambitious plan to transform Jeddah’s airport into a regional hub at an estimated cost of SR18 billion ($4.8 billion).
Abdullah Ruhaimi, head of GACA, who was under heavy criticism from Jeddah’s merchants, shared with the audience the negative view of the airport.
“Jeddah’s airport is not competing on the same level with other regional airports that are now attracting travelers from all over the region,” Ruhaimi said.
Jeddah’s airport is the major gate for international travelers into the Kingdom yet it remains behind other regional airports in the number of international scheduled flights leaving its ground.
Increasing the capacity of Jeddah’ airport means adding more terminals and Ruhaimi said that most of the work will be in the hands of the private sector.
The president of the GACA made it obvious that turning Jeddah’s airport into a regional hub requires also the participation of a large carrier as the official partner of the airport.
“Frankfurt’s airport is one of the major hub airports in Europe, but without the Lufthansa partnership, it would have been difficult for the airport to become hub,” Ruhaimi said.
Ruhaimi referred indirectly to the importance of the Saudi Arabian Airlines in helping the new airport to become a regional hub. The Jeddah-based airline is already using the airport as its main operational site yet experts expect more routes to be created between Jeddah and other international destinations.