Al Rajhi Group, TAV win contract to develop Yanbu Airport

A consortium formed by Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Holding Group and Turkey’s TAV Airports Holding has reached an agreement with the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) to operate and develop Yanbu International Airport (Prince Abdul Mohsin bin Abdulaziz Airport), TAV said on Thursday.

The airport will be developed under a 30-year concession contract, which will boost its annual capacity to 3 million passengers annually from 1.1 million passengers in 2016. 

The consortium will build a 30,000 square-meter terminal with 9 Code C boarding bridges, under the deal.

The agreement is part of GACA’s plans to privatize the kingdom’s airports to enhance their competitiveness.

In 2009, Al Rajhi Group and TAV created a 50:50 consortium to seek airport management and build-operate-transfer concessions in Saudi Arabia.

The Turkish group also signed in 2011 a contract with GACA, together with Al Rajhi Group and Saudi Oger, for the build-transfer-operate project of the Madinah Airport, the first airport privatization in the kingdom.