Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — The administration of King Abdulaziz International Airport here began on Monday operation of free train service to transport passengers inside its new Terminal No. 1.

The domestic automated train service will carry the arriving and departing international passengers from the check-in zone to the international travel lounges zone and vice versa. This service was the first of its kind at the Kingdom’s airports, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The length of the automated conveyor track is 1,000 meters with a capacity of 4,000 passengers per hour, and it includes two stations and two tracks that work with 10 carriages, each with the capacity of 65 passengers, and the length of time for the travel between the two stations is 85 seconds, while the passenger’s maximum waiting time is 170 seconds.

Issam Noor, director general of the KAIA, said the internal automatic carriage service is a technical addition to the series of services provided by the new airport, as this type of automated train exists only in a limited number of advanced international airports.

He said that the internal automated carrier aims to transport international travelers from Zone A after completing the travel procedures to Zone E of international travel lounges and vice versa. The train is equipped with all the systems available in the airport lounges such as air-conditioning, radio and information systems, and fire alarm systems, as well as emergency exits to ensure the safety and security of passengers in carriages, stations and along its tracks.

It is noteworthy that the first phase of the new airport has a capacity of 30 million passengers annually and up to 80 million passengers upon completion of the third phase. Passenger lounges are located on an area of 810,000 square meters to serve all domestic and international flights.

The passenger lounges contain 220 platforms, 80 self-service passenger service devices, and also includes 46 aircraft gates, including 25 gates for international flights, 13 gates for domestic trips, in addition to eight dual-use gates, and 94 aerobridges that connect directly to the aircraft. There are two bridges for each gate and three bridges for jumbo aircraft.