GACA rejects Shura Council call for airport in Makkah

GACA judged the idea as unfeasible because of the distance that airports are required to be from the city centre, as well  as the difficulties posed by the mountainous geography of the area,.

Ali Al-Zahrani, GACA’s head of company planning said at a meeting in Jeddah earlier in the week that GACE recognised that Madina Airport is not enough for the numbers of visitors to the city during the pilgrimage seasons and said that GACA’a vision for the future was instead to make Jeddah International Airport the “main centre” of traffic into the Kingdom and the link between Makkah and the outside world.
“We will have three main airports, and then we will work to have 25 airline companies to give us greater flexibility,” Al-Zahrani told the meeting. “But our focus will be primarily on making King Abdul Aziz International Airport the main centre for the Kingdom as we expect increasing growth in the number of Haj and Umrah pilgrims coming in.” He said that expansion of the Jeddah airport entails three phases, the first beginning in 2014 with the completion of new terminals to handle some 18 million visitors a year. Longer-term plans include “airport cities” with sports stadiums and other recreational facilities.
“Those plans should be made public within the next two years,” he said.

Speculation had arisen about the need for an airport in Makkah after the Saudi Shura Council had unanimously called for an airport to reduce the load in Medina and to make it easier for the millions of pilgrims that visit the Holy cities each year.

The rejection of the Council’s call was confirmed by Makkah Governor Prince Khalid Al Faisal who said Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz International Airport and the Islamic Port would continue to serve as the air and sea entry points to the holy city.   “Hence, we have no plan to set up a new airport in Makkah," he said.