JEDDAH: The General Authority of Civil Aviation’s (GACA) ongoing move to reform and liberalize the Saudi airport sector has impressed a visiting UK group. The reform process involves the restructuring of GACA into a regulatory authority and the development of the airport sector on a commercial basis by the introduction of competition and increased private sector participation.
Ali H. Al-Zahrani, director general for corporate planning at GACA, told a seminar on Tuesday that the Kingdom could benefit from Britain, which is known for its expertise and skills in airport expansion. King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, as well as airports in other major cities and towns, are undergoing planned expansion and development.
“The liberalization and commercialization of the British aviation industry has been a great success story,” Alan Lamond, leader of the nine-member mission and chairman of the London-based British Aviation Group, told the seminar at Le Meridien Hotel. “British airports are all self-sufficient business enterprises, which do not rely on central government subsidies,” he added.
“With so many projects for airport construction and expansion and many others in the pipeline in Saudi Arabia, the visiting mission finds vast potential for doing business here,” Lamond said.
“There is no major international airport worldwide where there is no British engagement,” he said, adding that the mission is scheduled to hold a meeting with GACA on Wednesday. The meeting is expected to discuss how British companies could play a role in the airport sector here.
The British aviation industry, he added, has more than 200 member-companies and for many years has had an impressive track record of involvement in airport finance, master plan, design, construction, equipment supply and operations. The track record has been built up through experience on some of the world’s major airport projects. “Many lessons have been learned and we take this opportunity to share our experience across the full range of airport development in the Kingdom,” Lamond said.
The mission representatives, who gave presentations on their products and services, said they were here to study business prospects and keen to forge partnerships with local businessmen.
The mission, which leaves on Thursday, includes Aerospace Resources that offers expertise and solutions in the civil and security sectors, Aeronautical & General Instruments, a supplier of weather information systems, Airport Design Consult Ltd., which specializes in passenger terminal development and design, airport master planning and airport facility design, and AviaSolutions, which provides management consultancy services to the air transport industry.
Others include Buro Happold, a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, G4S which offers security and safety solutions, Halcrow which provides infrastructure-based business solutions, Park Air Systems which provides integrated air traffic solutions for airspace management capabilities, and Tensator, a queue management specialist that advises on improving passenger flow and thus increasing operational efficiencies and profitability.
