King Salman International Airport project in Saudi Arabia falls in line with the nation’s vision to transform Riyadh to be of the top ten city economies in the world along with an increase in population growth to 15-20 million by 2030
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA), Chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) announces plans to build, one of the world’s largest airports, boosting the country’s tourism and the Kingdom’s ambition to become an international hub for tourism and logistics.
King Salman International Airport will boost Saudi Arabia’s position as a global leader in trade, tourism, and connecting point that links the east with the west. The project falls in line with the nation’s vision to transform Riyadh to be of the top ten city economies in the world along with an increase in population growth to 15-20 million by 2030.
The airport is expected to be one of the world’s largest airports driving the annual passenger count in Saudi Arabia from 29 million to more than 100 million travelers by the year 2030 and reaching around 180 million by 2050 with the ability to process around 3 million tons of cargo. The air traffic in the Kingdom is expected to reach more than 1 million flights annually from the current 200,000.
One of the major sectors to boost from the project is Tourism. The World Travel and Tourism Council will invest $10.5 billion in Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector as the Kingdom is evolving steadily in line with Vision 2030. The nations is still recovering from the pandemic, but the number to tourist arrivals have increased to 70 per cent of the pre Covid levels.
King Salman International Airport will cover an area of around 57km2, following six parallel runways that include existing terminals named after King Khalid. The project aims to have sustainability as its key area of focus and will achieve LEED platinum certification by integrating pioneering green initiatives into the design which will be powered by renewable energy.
The project will include 12km2 of airport, recreational and residential facilities, retail channels, and logistics real estate. The developments in the airport are set to be built by the Public Investment Fund and will provide an effortless travel experience for the customers, innovation, and top-tier operations. The airport construction will take Saudi and Riyadh culture into consideration along with providing an exquisite travel experience for transit travelers and visitors.
“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,” stated SPA. King Salman International Airport will create more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. The state airline Saudia will be based out of the Red Sea city of Jeddah under the transportation strategy that gives importance to the creation of two hubs. The nation is in talks with Boeing Co and Airbus SE on orders for the two carriers RIA and Saudia.
The announcement comes as part of PIF’s scheme which focuses on revealing the resources of promising sectors to augment Saudi Arabia’s efforts in expanding the economy, and it is in line with the Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative and the National Transport Strategy. The new airport is expected to contribute more than 25 billion Saudi Riyals annually to non-oil GDP in line with Vision 2030 objectives.
