JEDDAH: Prince Sultan bin Salman, secretary-general of the General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (GCTA), yesterday emphasized the government’s plan to transform the Kingdom’s international airports into corporations in order to play an important role in economic development.
“There are plans to transform civil aviation into different sectors to privatize them and open them for investment,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Prince Sultan saying.
Prince Sultan, who is also chairman of the Supervising Committee for the Development of King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, said the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) was carrying out a number of projects including airport cities, and providing more areas for exhibitions and other services. “We in GCTA see the need to develop and expand all airports in the Kingdom in order to boost domestic tourism,” he added.
Prince Sultan said GACA is currently engaged in developing all of the Kingdom’s airports and improving their services for passengers. “The government intends to develop the civil aviation law in a comprehensive manner,” he added.
Prince Sultan, accompanied by Abdullah Al-Ruhaimy, president of GACA, and Saad Al-Tasan, director general of King Khaled Airport, inspected the Riyadh airport building including the international terminal, executive office and the control tower, the agency said.
Al-Ruhaimy said the transformation of airports into corporations would be carried out gradually. “We have resorted to the assistance of international companies to manage international airports,” he added. In a previous statement the GACA chief said: “The international airports will be given corporate identity with independent financial status before being transferred to the ownership of companies fully owned by the state.”
He said the new plan would improve management of these airports. “This will eventually help the state to take a decision on privatization of these airports,” he said, adding that the authority was studying a proposal on setting up business cities within the Kingdom’s airports. “There is a plan to establish an exhibition center and a hotel at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam,” he said, adding that many businessmen in the Eastern Province had expressed their interest in the project.
The King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah is currently undergoing a major facelift. Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal recently inspected expansion work being carried out at the airport. The governor also disclosed plans to build a new airport in the city with more advanced facilities.
Al-Ruhaimy said 80 percent of the work on the Southern Terminal of the Jeddah airport had been completed. “By the end of this month, the final touches will be put on the new airport’s design,” he said. The project consists of 24 stages and the work on other stages will begin this year. He added that the new airport would be operational by 2012.
Crown Prince Sultan signed a SR902.91 million contract with Al-Mabani Company to develop and upgrade aviation facilities of the Jeddah airport as part of a massive expansion project to increase its annual capacity to 80 million passengers. “The contract covers expansion of the airport’s tarmac and runways in order to increase its annual capacity to 80 million passengers,” a GACA statement said.
The work will also include construction of a new aircraft parking facility west of the Haj Terminal as well as modernization of ground lights systems and information technology infrastructure. Under the project, 6.5 km square meter area will be set aside for commercial projects including hotels and offices of companies.
