RIYADH: The board of directors of the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) on Monday approved the expansion plan for King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh. The project’s first phase will increase the airport’s annual capacity to 25 million passengers.
The meeting, which was presided over by Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, also approved the results of the technical and financial qualification process for media and advertising activities at Saudi airports.
Before the meeting, Prince Sultan saw models of the project and attended an illustrated presentation by Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, and Abdullah Rehaimi, president of the GACA.
The airport would apply advanced technology and receive large aircraft, said Prince Sultan bin Salman.
“The project includes developing the airport commercially. It will also improve services to passengers and create more jobs for Saudis,” he added. The meeting approved the establishment of an independent office to investigate flight accidents under the supervision of GACA’s board.
The office will be directly linked to the board’s deputy chairman. The board reviewed the performance of private airlines — Nas, Sama and Alwafeer — and approved the bylaw for air cargo services. It also heard reports on the development of Prince Muhammad Airport in Madinah, airport cities and aviation traffic during the first nine months of 2009.
The meeting approved GACA’s distribution of flights among national airlines and urged the authority to set out an executive mechanism for this purpose. A meeting of national airlines will also be organized for this.
The board decided to set out a bylaw for collecting commissions without leaving the matter for unauthorized assumptions. During the meeting, Rehaimi praised the crown prince for supporting the authority and the air transport industry. He also congratulated Prince Sultan for his full recovery from a prolonged illness.
