Capacity to increase at Madinah Airport

Posted 25/08/2010

'Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport' in Madinah, fourth in Saudi Arabia in terms of passenger and air cargo traffic, is set to undergo a major overhaul that will see its capacity increase to 12 million in a two-phase development (#872.9). The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) has made considerable headway in the development of what will be the first airport in the country to be implemented as a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative. The estimated USD 1.6 billion project in Madinah forms part of a major expansion drive estimated to cost SAR 55 billion (USD 14.67 billion) to overhaul the Kingdom's aviation sector over the next two decades.

Eight companies/consortia have been selected from the initial ten bidders in the prequalification for the airport project (#884.OPS6) which is to be built in two phases on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis for a 25-year period. After completion, passenger capacity will increase to 8 million by 2014 (Phase 1) and 12 million by 2022 (Phase 2). (More in the newsletter full article #887.13)