RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has earmarked $10.65 billion to build and upgrade more than 20 airports to help accommodate its fast growing aviation industry, said the organisers of an upcoming aviation summit in Riyadh. Organised by Nispana and Semark, the inaugural Airport Modernization Summit is scheduled to take place on May 8 and 9.
It will provide the main stake holders with an ideal platform to come together and listen to real-time case study presentations by global leaders, network with peers, exchange ideas and source some of the latest technology that can be used to modernize the existing airports and develop new airports of the future.
With the launch of the Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, the first airport in Saudi Arabia to be constructed and operated entirely by the private sector following a Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) Agreement, the regulators have announced the plans to privatize airports as a means to support Kingdom’s finances.
This will allow foreign companies to invest in the Saudi Arabian airports without the need for local partners. The Saudi Arabian Airports see an annual increase of more than 10 per cent of passengers and 5 per cent of aircraft operations.
Seventy per cent of goods bound to the Middle-East are destined for Saudi Arabia and the government is focused to increase its cargo handling capacity to circumvent the need for shipments to transship through neighbouring GCC countries.
