JEDDAH — As many as 31 million passengers used King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah last year, a growth of three percent over 2015. The number of passengers using the airport facilities in 2016 was the highest ever since the establishment of the airport, KAIA's recently released annual report said. The report showed that the airport witnessed a growth by three percent in the number of passengers compared to 2015 with an increase by at least one million passengers, while the total number of flights added up in 2016 to 218,158 as against 212,404 in 2015. The report covered the number of passengers in all terminals. The northern terminal served 6.7 million passengers while the southern serviced 15.9 million. Some 8 million were serviced in the Haj terminal while the VIP terminal served 131,000 passengers. The report anticipates that the number of passengers will continue to grow in 2017 as up till now 600,000 Umrah passengers have already arrived at the airport. The general manager of the airport said that the facility is now exceeding its capacity by at least three times due to the growth in the number of Umrah pilgrims and moves to encourage tourism in the country. He also added that the number of aviation operating companies have increased from 64 to 80 and the number will soon be 100 operating companies during Haj and Umrah seasons.
