YANBU, 24 November 2007 — The General Authority for Civil Aviation opened the new Yanbu airport for traffic recently.
The first aircraft to land at the airport was a Saudia flight from King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah on Tuesday, according to Shafiq Abdul Matlub, director of the airport.
“An important feature of the new airport, which was constructed at a cost of SR180 million, is that passengers can directly board aircraft through an air bridge. This is the first time an air bridge has been installed in a regional airport in the Kingdom,” Shafiq told Arab News.
The work on the modernization of the airport was completed in a year, according to the director.
The two lounges of the airport have a capacity to accommodate 5,000 passengers at a time and each has two entries with revolving doors, the director said.
Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast, is one of the Kingdom’s major industrial hubs and is also a gateway for pilgrims.
