The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has announced the offering of 4 airports, Abha, Taif, Qassim and Hail, to the private sector, starting with the privatization of Abha International Airport, in a move aimed at strengthening partnership with the private sector and developing airport infrastructure.
GACA President Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duailej explained that 100 companies have submitted bids for the privatization of Abha Airport, noting that the bids will be decided on in the coming months, within a project aimed at raising the airport's operating capacity from 1.5 million to 13 million passengers in 3 phases, according to a post on the website of the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation.
The offering of the airports was announced yesterday, Tuesday, in a speech by GACA President Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duailej at a panel discussion titled "Investing in Logistics Infrastructure Between Co-Financing and Future Opportunities", the first session on the second day of the Supply Chain Conference being held in Riyadh, in the presence of Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser.
Al-Duailej pointed out that Saudi Arabia's experience with airport privatization began in 2016 with the privatization of Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, whose capacity rose from 3 million to 8.5 million passengers, with an agreement to increase it to 18 million passengers.
He stressed that the relationship between the government and private sectors is based on a clear distribution of roles, with governance and regulation on the government side, and financing, design, implementation and operation on the private sector side.
To view the post on the website of the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation, click here.
