Tourism & Hospitality | Thursday 28 March, 2019 2:38 am |

Prince Badr Bin Sultan, acting emir of Makkah, oversaw on Wednesday the ceremony of signing the contract for implementing the Qunfudah airport project between the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and Nesma and Partners Contracting Company.

Minister of Transport and Chairman of the board of directors of GACA Nabeel Al-Amoudi represented GACA in the signing of the contract.

The airport project, located 25 km north of Qunfudah, will be implemented within two years. Nesma has won the project, costing SR840 million, from among eight other bidders.

Speaking on the occasion, Prince Badr said that the project would be beneficial for more than half a million passengers from Qunfudah and its coastal regions as well as those from Asir and Baha regions.

In May 2018, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, laid the foundation stone for the airport. It will be the fourth airport in the Makkah region and 28th in the Kingdom.

The airport can accommodates half a million passengers annually and handle five flights per hour. The airport will be built on an area of about 24 million square meters. It has a passenger lounge with an area of more than 20,340 square meters. The airport can handle five flights per hour.