According to one source, King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) in Dammam is constantly hemorrhaging passengers at a time when other airports are experiencing the opposite.
The source attributed the decrease in the number of passengers using KFIA to the standard of services provided in comparison to other airports in the region. As a result of the differing standards, more and more passengers now use the international airport in Bahrain which offers the kind of services expected by passengers. It is also nearer to both Dammam and Alkhobar in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province. Most of the airline companies operating in the region avoid using KFIA and prefer to fly into and out of Bahrain instead.
The airport is indeed a piece of fine architecture, both grand and very spacious but it has a deserted feeling about it. When I last saw it, it seemed empty of both passengers and planes. On the flight that took me from KFIA to Jeddah, I wished I could move the airport to the Red Sea city. If only Jeddah had an airport like the one in Dammam! Jeddah is experiencing a steady increase in the number of passengers using its airport which, because of its small size and inadequate services, is incapable of meeting either present or future needs.
King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah now has a new director, Mazin Khashoggi. The former director who, during his long service, faced a storm of criticism and complaints from the media and the public, sought to improve the situation by patching a few bits and pieces here and there. What is needed, however, in Jeddah is more than patches.
The city urgently needs a new airport capable of handling the increased number of passengers and providing those passengers with the kind of service they have every right to expect — and which they find in every other country in the world.
