Airports ready to tackle summer rush, claims GACA

JEDDAH — The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said the Kingdom’s airports are well-equipped and prepared to handle the summer rush of outbound travelers.

In a statement, the Kingdom’s national aviation institution said Saudi airports can accommodate all additional flights and added that although many airports in the Kingdom are running over capacity, such as Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, they can still handle an increase in flights.

GACA said the Kingdom’s remaining 23 airports have not reached their capacities despite the increase in domestic travel and tourism. GACA spokesman Khaled Al-Khaibary said no requests to increase the number of flights have been refused and added that the extra capacity at regional airports prompted GACA to increase the number of international flights landing and taking-off from the Abha, Buraidah, Jazan, Hail, Tabuk, Taif and Yanbu airports respectively.

“There are over 318 flights taking-off and landing at regional airports every week.

This has made it easy for residents and citizens to fly out of the Kingdom as they no longer have to go to the international airports in Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh and Madinah to leave the country,” he said. — SG