The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has received the land allocated for the new Qunfudah airport. A team of airport planning engineers and geomatics architects and surveyors for the General Directorate of Engineering Services Airport Sector at the GACA received the newly allocated site for the airport. This was accomplished using the latest surveying equipment and aerial photography with the participation of Almuzaif Municipality and the governorate of Makkah region. GACA plans to establish a new international airport in Taif region during the next phase, and an economic airport in Qunfudah province. The new Taif airport will be considered the new gateway for Haj and Umrah and is consistent with the Kingdom's Vision 2030, where it is expected that the number of pilgrims will reach 30 million. GACA is working on a project designed to meet the highest international standards, and to be built through BTO system, build, operate and manage to raise operating efficiency. And due to the increase in passenger numbers in Taif airport and an increased demand for international flights, especially Haj and Umrah flights. The new airport will be located northeast of Taif province. It will be near Souk Okaz and at a distant of 120 km from Makkah. The new airport will include terminals that are designed in accordance to standard (C) and as approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to receive five million passengers annually and will eventually reach eight million passengers in the future. Two runways will be taken into account during the design phase, in the case of an increase in passenger's capacity in the future. Tareq Alabduljabar, assistant to the president for airports, said the new Taif International Airport project will be built through a (BTO) system, a contract to build, transfer and operate, and be able to raise operating efficiency and increase revenues through partnership with the private sector. He said that he has been coordinating with relevant government agencies to overcome obstacles and complete the project infrastructure. As for the New Qunfudah economic airport, Alabduljabar said work will commence on the planning and design of the project. The site that was selected is located north of Qunfudah province after a thorough study with the participation of several government agencies including Makkah governorate, and the Ministry of Municipality and rural Affairs and the General Authority of Meteorology, he said. The passenger's traffic in the new airport is expected to exceed half a million passengers annually.
