The project contributes to absorbing the current and expected steady increase in air traffic through modern and high-tech facilities, and will provide a large number of investment opportunities for the private sector in addition to thousands of job opportunities for citizens, and quality services for travelers based on the measurement of performance indicators in customer service.
The importance of the new airport stems from the strategic importance of the city of Jeddah, which occupies a prominent position on the map of the cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, on the coast of the Red Sea, as an air and sea gateway to the Two Holy Mosques, as well as an economic and tourist city that attracts everyone from inside and outside, and therefore the establishment of the new airport project enhances the economic, strategic and historical location of the bride of the Red Sea.
The pride of the world's airports
The new airport is equipped to be one of the world's most advanced airports in terms of the complex of passenger lounges, control towers and supporting services and contains the largest air traffic control tower with a height of 136 m - one of the highest control towers in the world - in addition to the western control support tower and all equipment and integrated systems and information centers equipped with a network of fiber optic cables, wide corridors that facilitate the provision of services at the highest degree of performance and efficiency and the establishment of a highway network that connects it with railway stations that will be established soon.
Phases of the project
The area of the new King Abdulaziz Airport project in Jeddah is more than one hundred square kilometers, and contains many facilities and facilities that serve the airport.
The project is divided into three phases: Phase I aims to serve 30 million passengers per year by early 2015, Phase II aims to serve 43 million passengers per year by 2025, Phase III aims to serve 80 million passengers per year by 2035. The first phase of the project consists of two parallel contracts that are being worked on simultaneously. The first contract includes the construction of the passenger terminal complex, control towers, and supporting services. The passenger terminal is located on an area of 670,000 square meters to accommodate approximately 30 million passengers annually to serve all domestic and international flights.
Equipping passenger lounges
The lounges of the new airport project contain 220 counters and 80 self-service machines to serve passengers, and also includes 46 aircraft gates, including 25 gates for international flights and 13 gates for domestic flights, in addition to eight dual-use gates, in addition to 94 movable bridges connecting directly to the aircraft, so that there are two bridges for each gate and three bridges for giant aircraft, and the passenger lounges will also contain one lounge for domestic flights and two international flights for first class and business class passengers. The second decade of the Phase 1 project includes aprons and runways, as well as roads, tunnels and bridges leading to the airport, as well as utility and infrastructure centers, a passenger transportation center and support services. The project includes 25 kilometers of flight corridors, 1.5 million square meters of aprons, three main utility centers, air conditioning and drainage systems, and all services associated with the airport building. In addition to a seven-kilometer tunnel for the utilities and services network that includes electricity, water, non-purified water, firefighting, sewage and a storm water drainage network.
Road networks
The project is connected by a 20-kilometer network of roads leading to the airport, which includes a highway, bridges, tunnels, a multi-story parking building with a capacity of 8,200 cars, a passenger transportation center and a railway station to connect with the railway line (Haramain train) that connects Makkah and Medina. In addition, the project includes one of the largest and most beautiful mosques in airports, which is currently under construction, which is considered part of the project elements. The mosque accommodates 3,000 worshipers with an area of 6,700 square meters, and the location of the mosque is located between the airport and residential neighborhoods to also serve non-airport worshippers.
Project milestones
The Saudi Binladin Group (the main contractor for the new King Abdulaziz Airport project in Jeddah) is overseeing the construction of the new airport project, as it previously provided an explanation of its latest updates regarding the King Abdulaziz Airport construction project in Jeddah, explaining that work is ongoing continuously and around the clock, and that a large part of the basic facilities, passenger lounges, parking lots and the main air traffic control tower have been completed, the Saudi Binladin Group indicated that the first phase of the new King Abdulaziz Airport will be completed by the end of 2015, and the project supervisor indicated that several points will be considered in designing the new airport to qualify for the new airport to be built. The new King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah is one of the largest airports in the Middle East and Asia.
