The KAIA expansion project aims to establish a modern airport with an initial capacity of handling 30 million passengers and an ultimate capacity of 80 million passengers and three million tons of cargo per year.
The new airport will have a single passenger terminal for both Saudi Arabian Airlines and foreign airlines and will cover an area of 678,000 square meters, replacing the existing North and South Terminals.
The Cabinet statement did not say when the new airport project would start. But Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation and GACA's chairman, said the project is ready for the approval of higher authorities.
The project includes the building of tunnels, corridors, train stations, and baggage handling and conveyer systems; communications and meteorological systems; and passenger-loading bridges. Airfield works include construction of taxiways, aprons, roads and services and support facilities.
About 51,700 square meters inside the airport will be allocated for shops while a 6.5 square-km area outside the airport building would be set aside to implement investment projects such as hotels, hospitals, recreation centers, aircraft maintenance facilities and light aviation industries.
The Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prince Sultan, also highlighted the significance of the "Roads to Arabia" exhibition at the Louvre Museum in Paris, which was opened by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner on July 13.
"This exhibition embodies the cultural dimension of Saudi-French relations," the Cabinet statement said. It also highlights the rich history of the Arabian Peninsula and the efforts made by King Abdul Aziz to unify the Kingdom and establish a modern state.
The Louvre exhibition, which showcases 350 rare artifacts showing different cultures and civilizations that have inhabited the Arabian Peninsula, has been drawing a large number of visitors since its opening.
The exhibition, which is organized by SCTA, will remain open in Paris until Sept. 27 before moving to Barcelona in Spain. It will also be staged in a number of European, US and Gulf cities.
Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet endorsed the cooperation agreement between the Saudi Commission for Investigation and Public Prosecution with its South Korean counterpart.
It also approved the general cooperation agreement with Brazil, which was signed on May 16, 2009.
