THE General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced the start of its partial operation for the new Terminal 5 building at King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) earmarked for domestic flights on Sunday (May 22). Eng. Tareq Alabduljabar, Assistant to GACA President for Airports, said the new terminal will receive both arrival and departing flights for Saudi Arabian Airlines and Nas Air as of next Sunday from 5 in the morning until one in the afternoon daily to five destination (Sharora, Alwajeh, Turaif, Alguriat, Alhafoof), eventually covering the whole Kingdom, and operation will shift completely from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5. He added that the partial operation of any new airport is within the known international mechanisms for startup operation and aims to ensure the smooth transfer of passenger traffic and ensure the safety and readiness of all the techniques and the systems used in the process. He advised all passengers who are traveling in the coming weeks to contact their airlines to ascertain as of which terminal they will be traveling from. Director General of King Khalid International Airport (KKIA Abdul-Aziz Abuharba clarified that passengers will be informed through Terminal 5 both on departure and arrival for the limited schedule by the airlines through their official website, call centers, and SMS mobile messages; Also through travel agencies and through social media accounts for GACA and KKIA. He went on to say that the airport has provided round trip shuttle service every ten minutes to transfer transit international passengers from terminal 5 and the international terminal. He added that the start of operation of the new terminal of any airport is the most important stage in term of operation and interdependence of the entire systems that are basically end of traveller procedures, luggage system, Fids, conveyor belts, and other systems that are technically interrelated. Not surprising one will notice, the continued construction works, which mostly cosmetic work, in addition to the work on the metro project, which will be linked directly to the terminal in the future.
