HRH Prince Turki bin Talal bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Asir Province in Saudi Arabia, inaugurated the expansion of Abha International Airport, one of the many projects that are being spearheaded by the kingdom’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (Gaca).

The project includes expanded arrival and departure lounges and upgrade of the main runway. The departure lounge has been expanded to 805 sq m to accommodate about 300 passengers, and the arrival lounge is now hosted in an expanded1,030-sq-m structure to hold 340 passengers. The aircraft parking bays can now cater for 13 planes simultaneously while the runway has been expanded to accommodate wide-body aircraft.

Meanwhile, the final designs for Al Jouf International Airport have been approved by Gaca President Abdulhadi Al Mansouri.

Work on the new airport is due to begin in September and will be completed within the next two years, said Gaca. The project will boast a terminal that can handle one million passengers per year and 14 aircraft parking bays. It will have a total built-up area of 47,000 sq m (landside), while the airside building area is 22,483 sq m, it added.

Among other plans in the aviation sector, a key airport primarily to serve pilgrims to Makkah has received the go-ahead, following the allocation of state-owned land for the project. It will be built in the Al Faisaliah City project, which will be constructed over a 2,450-sq-km area in western Makkah, extending from the Makkah Haram boundary to the Red Sea coast of Al Shuaiba.

The new airport will be linked to Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport in collaboration with Gaca.