JEDDAH: The infrastructure and facilities at King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) are being constantly upgraded and work on its new terminal is on schedule to make it operational by 2012-13, a senior official of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said here on Tuesday night.
“The KAIA handled 17 million passengers in 2008 and in two years time the passenger traffic will exceed the 20 million mark,” Abdulelah O. Falemban, director of safety and quality assurance, and secretary of the supervisory committee at KAIA, said while speaking as chief guest at the 40th anniversary of Lufthansa’s operations to Jeddah, at the Jeddah Hilton.
“With the cooperation of our stakeholders, the KAIA will be upgraded to international standards with world-class facilities. By 2012-13, the KAIA, which opened in 1981, will have a new expanded and upgraded look with a new terminal that will be able to handle 30 million passengers,” he said.
“The airport, which has assumed the task of running itself on a commercial basis, will also be upgraded to receive the double deck Airbus A380 aircraft,” Falemban said and suggested to Lufthansa to utilize the opportunity and consider flying this aircraft to the Kingdom in future. The 555-seat A380 is the most ambitious civil aircraft.
Describing Lufthansa’s operations to Jeddah as a “success story,” Joachim Steinbach, vice president sales and services for Southeast Europe, Africa and the Middle East/Pakistan, said: “Lufthansa’s 40-year service to Jeddah is a success story because the German airline has operated uninterruptedly since May 7, 1969, to the Kingdom’s commercial hub with just one flight a week.”
Lufthansa’s first flight, a Boeing 707, flew to Jeddah via Athens and Addis Ababa. Today, Lufthansa together with Swiss International (SWISS) have worked together to put them to best use. “Together, the two world airlines offer 29 flights from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam airports.,” he said.
German Consul General Dr. Michael Zickerick said Germany’s strong bonds with Saudi Arabia was responsible for promoting trade and economic cooperation that had resulted in a number of joint ventures.