daa International have been chosen to manage and operate the new Terminal 5 facility at Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport (KKIA), Riyadh.

The new terminal will cover more than 100 square metres, and will be able to deal with a capacity of 12 million domestic passengers per year. This contract is the first airport management contract acquired by daa International, and is the first of its kind for Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). The multi-million euro contract covers an initial period of five years.

Passenger numbers are rapidly increasing year on year at KKIA, stressing the need for the new terminal, along with other extension plans. In 2013, KKIA welcomed 18.58 million passengers, which increased to 22.3 million last year.

Terminal 5 is due to open later this year, replacing the current Terminal 3, handling domestic flights. Terminal 3 is predominantly used by Saudia, but also by low cost carriers (LCCs) such as Flynas. Domestic passengers are on the increase at KKIA – last year the airport welcomed 11.7 million domestic passengers, an increase of 7.4 percent. Within the next four years, numbers are expected to increase up to one third.

The further development of Terminal 4, would lead to increasing airport capacity to 18 million if used for domestic flights, or 15 million if used for international flights. Development of this fourth terminal is slated to be completed within the next five years.

KKIA had been operated by Fraport AG, the international airport management company famously known for managing Germany’s Frankfurt Airport. Fraport completed their multi-year management agreement with Saudi Arabia’s second biggest airport in mid-2014, having applied their wide ranging management and consulting expertise over a timespan of six years. During the time of the contract, traffic grew substantially.

In 2008, GACA signed a consultancy contract with Netherlands Airport Consultants B.V (NACO). The plan involves increasing the capacity of the airport to 40 million passengers by 2038.

The new Terminal 5 facility, along with expansions at Damman and Jeddah, will help to deal with increasing passenger numbers in Saudi Arabia. The country hopes to have a combined future capacity of 140 million passengers each year, to support the rapidly expanding population and oil-strong economy. The new Terminal 5 will be able to accommodate 16 narrow bodied aircraft, or up to eight wide bodied planes.

“daa International is delighted to have won this highly significant contract at King Khaled International Airport and we look forward to providing a fantastic travel experience for passengers," said Colm Moran, Chief Executive, daa International.

“We are proud to have been selected ahead of such formidable competition, and we will work closely with GACA to ensure that daa International more than delivers on its commitments to provide a world class product to customers and also to generate significant commercial revenues at Terminal 5.”