The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has announced the issuance of the fourth update of the National Civil Aviation Security Program, which comes in accordance with security developments and updates issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in terms of international regulations and legislation. The program is a reference guide for all sectors implementing aviation security measures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the aim of achieving protection of civil aviation operations, travelers and workers from acts of unlawful interference. Furthermore, it is one of the international obligations arising from the Civil Aviation Convention (Chicago Convention 1944). The program aims to provide protection for commercial airlines aircraft and airport operations against acts of unlawful interference. Moreover, it aims to secure the security protection and effectiveness required for civil aviation operations within the Saudi borders by providing all the elements of protection from acts of unlawful interference directed against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's interests related to civil aviation. This is in addition to identifying security rules applicable to the Kingdom's airports, defining the responsibilities of government and security agencies at the airport, and regulating the relationship between all of them. The program also aims to provide the necessary protection for the operations of the national carrier, as well as security protection for airport buildings, civil aviation facilities, property and important vital sites of the airport. This is in addition to providing security protection in order to achieve the safety of passengers, airmen, and the safety of the public and people working on ground sites who use airport facilities. Among the most prominent elements of the program are the distribution of security roles and responsibilities between security agencies and operating companies, setting the necessary requirements, coordinating security contingency plans, training, quality of aviation security, security procedures, defining international agreements and obligations. It is worth noting, that GACA has established the National Aviation Security Program to regulate all aviation security activities in the Kingdom, based on the civil aviation system and the seventeenth annex to the International Civil Aviation Convention (Chicago Convention 1944). The third update of the program was issued in 2011, where each version was updated and developed according to security developments with the aim of contributing to creating a safe and flexible civil aviation environment.
