Saudi Civil Aviation to operate airports within 15 months

Saudi Arabia’s airports will be operated by the Saudi Civil Aviation Holding Company (SAVC), which is wholly-owned by the government, within 15 months, Tariq Abdul Jabbar, assistant to GACA president, said on Tuesday.

The ownership of these airports and the related units will be later on transferred to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Abdul Jabbar added without specifying a certain date.

Construction of 29 airports is scheduled for completion by 2020, he told reporters at a media forum organized by the authority.  

GACA was converted to a holding company to facilitate privatization efforts across airport in the Kingdom, Argaam earlier reported.

The kingdom plans to privatize 27 airports by mid-2018, as part of ongoing fiscal reforms in the wake of falling oil prices.

By 2020-end, the kingdom’s airports will be financially and administratively independent of GACA.