The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has released its August report, evaluating the performance of domestic and international airports in Saudi Arabia. The assessment is based on 14 key performance criteria, aligned with the strategic goal of enhancing services and improving the overall traveler experience across the Kingdom’s airports.
In the report, several airports stood out for their exemplary performance. King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), King Fahd International Airport (KFIA), Abha International Airport, Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport in Qassim, and Gurayat Domestic Airport received top rankings.
Read more: Saudi announces master plan for new mega airport in Riyadh
5 groups
To ensure fairness in the evaluation process, GACA categorizes airport performance into five groups. In the category of international airports serving over 15 million passengers annually, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah secured the first position with a commendable compliance rate of 91 percent, followed by King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with 82 percent compliance.
Additionally, among international airports catering to five to 15 million passengers annually, KFIA led the way with an 82 percent compliance rate, while Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport achieved the same rate. KFIA also outperformed Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in terms of average waiting time for arriving and departing flights.
Moreover, Abha International Airport claimed the top spot in the category of international airports handling two to five million passengers, achieving an impressive compliance rate of 91 percent. King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Jizan followed closely with an 82 percent compliance rate.
International airports
In the category of international airports serving less than two million passengers, Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport achieved a perfect compliance rate of 100 percent, surpassing its peers in terms of total average waiting time for departing and arriving flights.
Domestic airports
In addition, for domestic airports, Gurayat Domestic Airport emerged as the frontrunner with a flawless compliance rate of 100 percent, showcasing superior performance in terms of total average waiting time for departing and arriving flights.
Landmark agreement
On Thursday, the Red Sea Global (RSG), the developer of transformative tourism projects like The Red Sea and Amaala, entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) and daa International. The landmark agreement establishes Saudia as the pioneering airline to operate at the Red Sea International airport (RSI), operated by daa International. The RSI airport is a key component of RSG’s ambitious regenerative tourism destinations.
Under this partnership, Saudia will become the first airline to offer its services at the RSI airport, facilitating travel to and from the captivating destinations developed by RSG. Furthermore, the MoU signifies a significant step towards the realization of RSG’s vision for sustainable and world-class tourism experiences in the Red Sea region.
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