Saudi’s AlUla airport gets nod to receive international flights

Saudi Arabia’s general authority of civil aviation (GACA) on Thursday has given its approval to start receiving international flights at Prince Abdul Majeed Bin Abdulaziz Airport in AlUla, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

This comes after AlUla Airport carried out a major expansion programme to become the fifth largest airport in the kingdom, with an area of 2.4 million square meters.

The airport’s capacity has been increased threefold, as the airport can receive 15 commercial flights at the same time, and the passenger capacity has been raised from 1 Lakh passengers to 4 Lakhs passengers per year.

The development of AlUla Airport is a key element of RCU’s strategy to elevate AlUla to become a global destination for heritage, culture, history, and natural tourism, and to enhance its strategic role, to become an important logistical center in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The strategy also aims to attract two million visitors every year to AlUla and contribute to raising the Kingdom’s GDP by SR120 million by 2035.

International flights to and from the Gulf Kingdom are currently suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and are expected to resume in mid-May.