Saudi Arabia Reveals Plan For Six-Runway Mega-Airport In Riyadh

The King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh will be transformed into a mega-airport with six parallel runways, capable of handling 185 million passengers per year by the year 2050. Saudi Arabia is investing $1 trillion to turn the country into a tourist destination.

The airport will cover an area of around 22 square miles. Up to 120 million travellers will be accommodated annually by the new airport by the year 2030. It is expected to handle up to 3.5 million tons of cargo by the end of the century. The airport is expected to be one of the largest airports in the world, and will be named after the king of Saudi Arabia.

The current airport will be included in the new airport being built by the Public Investment Fund. Terminals named after King Khalid will be included. The current King Khalid airport, which has two runways, handled 28 million passengers before the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The new airport is expected to create 103,000 direct and indirect jobs in Saudi Arabia.

“The airport project is in line with Saudi Arabia’s vision to transform Riyadh to be among the top ten city economies in the world and to support the growth of Riyadh’s population to 15–20 million people by 2030.”

State News Agency SPA

A Hub For Saudi’s New Airline

12 square kilometres of airport support facilities, residential and recreational facilities, retail outlets, and other real estate will be included in the new airport. Saudi Arabia is expected to launch a mega-airline in the near future. The kingdom is in talks with both Boeing andEADS on orders.

The aviation department of the Public Investment Fund is getting a lot of money for the project, even though no budget has been disclosed.

The new airport in Saudi Arabia would depend on international transit passengers. The country might be able to convince passengers to transit through Saudi Arabia.

A seamless customer journey, world-class efficient operations, and innovation are some of the things that will make it an aerotropolis. Riyadh's identity and the Saudi culture will be taken into consideration in the airport's design to ensure a unique travel experience.