SAUDIA ARABIA. In what it described as “a momentous day”, Irish airports company daa International has been awarded a five-year management contract at King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
KAIA is the gateway to Jeddah, the Kingdom’s second-biggest city and the principle entry point for the Islamic Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages to the Holy Mosque in Mecca, just 65 kilometres to the west.
Working in partnership with Jeddah Airports Company (JEDCO), daa International will manage and advise on operations and non-aeronautical revenue and facilities management at KAIA.
daa International noted that it had developed credibility and a strong presence in Saudi Arabia over the past five years by managing and operating Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 5. More recently it was appointed as operator at the Red Sea Airport – part of the Red Sea project, a world-first of type sustainable luxury tourism destination.
daa International said that it will ultimately have 45 people based in Jeddah. They will integrate “seamlessly” into the JEDCO team, “creating a shared knowledge transfer culture and working together to develop KAIA into one of the world’s leading hub airports,” the company added.
Jeddah Airports Company (JEDCO) was established this year as part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s privatisation programme.
daa International is part of daa, a global airports and travel retail company with businesses in 16 countries. The group is owned by the Irish State and headquartered at Dublin Airport.
daa owns and manages Dublin and Cork airports and has international airport operations and investments in Cyprus, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
Travel retail subsidiary ARI has stores in Europe, North America, the Middle East, India and Asia Pacific.
Note: The King Abdulaziz International Airport agreement and development will be featured in a new publication from The Moodie Davitt Report that will explore Saudia Arabia’s burgeoning aviation, travel and tourism sectors with a special emphasis on retail, mixed-leisure and other related commercial revenue sectors.
The Saudi Travel Ecosystem Report, to be published in June/July in Arabic and English, will take a deep dive into one of the world’s most exciting, investment-heavy and resurgent travel-related markets. For details please contact Martin Moodie at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com
