News

His Excellency Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al‑Duailej, President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, announced the offering of Abha, Taif, Qassim, and Hail airports to the private sector, with the first phase beginning at Abha International Airport.

The announcement came during His Excellency’s remarks today at a panel discussion titled “Investing in Logistics Infrastructure: Between Joint Financing and Future Opportunities”, the opening session of the second day of the Supply Chain Conference, which began yesterday in Riyadh. The session was attended by His Excellency, the Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, Engineer Nasser bin Saleh Al‑Jasser.

Al‑Duailej stated that bids for the privatisation of Abha Airport will be decided in the coming months, noting that 100 companies have already submitted proposals currently under review. The project aims to expand Abha Airport’s operational capacity from 1.5 million passengers to 13 million passengers, implemented across three phases.

Reflecting on Saudi Arabia’s experience with airport privatisation, Al‑Duailej explained that the journey began in 2016 with the privatisation of Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, a pioneering global model. He highlighted the significant success achieved, with passenger capacity increasing from 3 million to 8.5 million, and agreements in place to further expand capacity to 18 million.

His Excellency emphasised that the partnership between the public and private sectors is built on governance, quality, and regulation from the government side. In contrast, the private sector drives financing, design, implementation, and operations.