King Abdulaziz International Airport (

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

: JED,

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

: OEJN, colloquially referred to as Jeddah Airport, Jeddah International Airport, or KAIA), is a major

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

serving the cities of

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

and

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, located north of Jeddah and covering an area of . The airport is the busiest in the kingdom and the third-largest by land area. It is also one of the busiest airports in the Middle East. Opened in 1981, it was built to replace the now-demolished Kandara Airport and is named after the founder of Saudi Arabia,

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

. The airport shares its airfield with the RSAF King Abdullah Air Base, and has a royal terminal and three operational passenger terminals, including a Hajj Terminal built exclusively to handle increased traffic during the Islamic

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

pilgrimage season. It serves as the largest hub for

Saudia Saudia (), formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines (), is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia based in Jeddah. The airline's main hubs are the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the ...

, the Saudi

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

, and as an operating base for national

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

Flynas Flynas (stylized flynas; ), formerly Nas Air, is a private Saudi low-cost airline "joint-stock company". It is the first low-cost airline in Saudi Arabia. The company's headquarters are located in Riyadh. It operates more than 1,500 flights pe ...

and

Flyadeal flyadeal (Arabic: طيران أديل, romanized: Tayaran Adil) is a Saudi Arabian low-cost airline headquartered at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. It is a subsidiary of Saudia, Saudi Arabia's flag carrier. History Saudia, t ...

.About KAIA
on the GACA website

History

Before the construction of the King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah and the surrounding region were served by the

Kandara Airport Jeddah International Airport, also known as Abbas Ibn Firnas Airport or Kandara Airport (IATA: XZF ICAO: OEJD) was the first airport of Saudi Arabia located within Al-Kandara and Al-Sharafiya, Jeddah. It was the original airport serving the citi ...

located in the southern part of the city. Following a meeting between King Abdulaziz and

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

in 1945, the kingdom was gifted a

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

that was operated between the cities of Jeddah,

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, and

Dhahran Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi ...

. In 1946,

, the Saudi flag carrier, was set up and operated out of the airport. The company began flying in Hajj pilgrims to the city, first from

Lod Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, and later from other countries.

Construction

Between 1976 and 1980, the total budget of $8 billion USD was set aside for civil aviation in a government 5-year plan. This funding was made to continue efforts which had previously started in the plan. Of the $8 billion, only $5 billion USD was specifically allocated for the construction of the new airport. Construction work began in 1974 and was finalized in 1980. A contract for the maintenance of the airport was awarded to Hochtief AG, and the cleaning contract of the airport was awarded to South Korea companies. On 12 April 1981,

King Khaled Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 13 February 1913 13 June 1982) was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 25 March 1975 until his death in 1982. Before his death, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the fifth son of King Abdulaziz, ...

and Prince Fahd inaugurated the airport, naming it King Abdulaziz International Airport, which is named after the founder of the kingdom. Following inauguration, the airport opened for service on 31 May Following construction of the King Abdulaziz International Airport, the Kandara Airport was demolished.

Terminals

King Abdulaziz International Airport - North Terminal 2

Terminal 1

As part of the 2006 development project, a new passenger terminal was constructed. At , it is one of the largest

airport terminal An airport terminal is a main building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft. The buildings that provide access t ...

s in the world and can handle 30 million passengers annually. Still referred to as the New Terminal, it underwent a

soft opening A soft launch, also known as a soft opening, is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public. Soft-launching a product is sometimes used to gather data or customer feedback, prior to making it wid ...

with a domestic flight landing from Gurayat in May 2018. In March 2019, all of Saudia's domestic operations were transferred to operate from the new terminal. In August 2019,

started moving international operations to the new terminal, and in September of that year, the new terminal was officially named Terminal 1 and inaugurated by

King Salman Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thro ...

. On November 18, 2019, Etihad became the first non-Saudi airline to move to the new facility. New facilities at Terminal 1 include new lounges, a central garden, a tall aquarium that is in diameter, a mosque with a capacity of 3,732 worshippers, and a transport center that links the terminal building to the parking area and the Airport–Jeddah station of the

Haramain High Speed Railway The Haramain High Speed Railway (, , abbreviated HHR), is a passenger railway serving the Mecca and Medina provinces in western Saudi Arabia. The main line directly connects the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina (collectively known as the ...

. It is eventually planned to handle 80 million passengers per year. As of November 2024, Terminal 1 handles most of the flight operations coming into

, approximately handling 19 airlines, including

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...

, and

Thai Airways International Thai Airways International plc () is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1961 as a joint venture between SAS and Thai Airways Company, the airline has its corporate headquarters in Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Chatuchak district, Bang ...

South Terminal

Opened in 1981, the South Terminal was one of the first passenger terminals at the airport, and was initially exclusively used by the national

. The architectural design of the building was modeled on

Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...

in the American capital,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and incorporated tent-like structures. The terminal building consisted of separate departure and arrival lounges, and gates equipped with

jet bridge A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...

s. In 2007, Saudi low-cost carriers

and Sama were also given permission to use the South Terminal, and later, permission to use the terminal was extended to the Indonesian flag carrier,

Garuda Indonesia Garuda Indonesia is the flag carrier of Indonesia, headquartered at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport near Jakarta. A successor of KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf, it is a member of SkyTeam airline alliance and the second-largest airline of Ind ...

, and another Saudi low-cost airline,

. After 40 years of service, on June 26, 2020, it was announced via the airport's official Twitter account that the South Terminal would be closed and its operations would be transferred to the newly-built Terminal 1.

North Terminal

The North Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport is mainly used by non-Saudi airlines.

Hajj Terminal

Because of

's proximity to the city of

, the airport has a dedicated Hajj Terminal built to handle

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

s taking part in the annual Islamic

pilgrimage. The Hajj Terminal can accommodate 80,000 travelers at any given time. The terminal building was designed by Bangladeshi-American architect

Fazlur Rahman Khan Fazlur Rahman Khan (, ''Fazlur Rôhman Khan''; 3 April 1929 – 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers. Considered the "father of Tube (structure) ...

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

, and is known for its tent-like roof structure, engineered by Horst Berger of Geiger Berger Associates. The roof is composed of ten modules, each consisting of twenty-one white tent-like

Teflon Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off from ...

-coated

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

structures suspended from pylons. The modules are grouped together into two blocks of five modules each, separated by a landscaped mall between the blocks. Only customs, baggage handling and similar facilities are located in the

air-conditioned Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

building. The vast majority of the complex is a flexible, open area called the Terminal Support Area, which is conceived to function like a village, even consisting of a

souk A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets that have doors ...

and mosque. Not enclosed by walls, this area is sheltered from the intense sun while allowing for natural ventilation; because of this, some consider it to be a green, environmentally-friendly building. The Hajj Terminal received the

Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies in the fie ...

in 1983.Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Cold air is poured into the space and allowed to escape into the desert
Aga Khan Awards, Project brief

Development projects

A development project for the airport started in 2006. The plan included the construction of Terminal 1 and the tallest

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

tower in the world at , airfield hard-standing and paved areas, lighting, fuel network systems, electronic passenger guidance systems and a new storm water drainage network. The development project also includes newly constructed support services building and upgrades to the existing runway and airfield systems. In 2023, it was announced that a further expansion of the airport is planned. A fourth runway and a new Terminal 2 are to be built.

Other facilities

The

General Authority of Civil Aviation The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) () is the regulator of Saudi Arabia's civil aviation sector. It was established in 1934 as the Civil Aviation Administration () to oversee the air traffic control of Saudi Arabia. It is responsible ...

maintains its presence at the Building 364, the GACA Hangar. An

automated people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...

(APM), constructed by

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

, exists to move passengers between Terminal 1 and the North Terminal. The

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF; ) is the military aviation, aviation branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force currently has wings, squadrons, and a special forces unit dedicated to comba ...

maintains its presence at the King Abdullah Air Base located towards the north of the airport. The Number 4, Number 16, and Number 20 squadrons of the 8th Wing of the RSAF, operating

Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

aircraft, use it as their home base.

Haramain High Speed Railway station

Terminal 1 is connected to the

mainline via a branch line. The station at the airport terminal building was named Airport–Jeddah station to distinguish it from the Al-Sulimaniyah–Jeddah station situated closer to downtown Jeddah. It provides regular connections to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and to the

King Abdullah Economic City King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC, ; ) is a planned city in Rabigh Governorate, Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia. It was announced as a megaproject in 2005 by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. It is located in close proximity to Thuwal, almost 100 k ...

Runways

The airport is served by three parallel runways designated 16L/34R, 16C/34C, and 16R/34L.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Accidents and incidents

*On 26 November 1979, Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740, a Boeing 707, crashed soon after takeoff when a fire started on board. There were no survivors among the 156 passengers and crew on board. *On 6 February 1991, when the airport was being used as an air base during the Gulf War, a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

suffered an

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not deliberately caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that the event may have been caused by Risk assessment, unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Many researchers, insurers ...

when two of the KC-135's four engines ripped off and made an emergency landing at the base, two tires burst during the landing. *On 11 July 1991,

Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 was a chartered passenger flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Sokoto, Nigeria, on 11 July 1991, which caught fire shortly after takeoff from King Abdulaziz International Airport and crashed while attempting to retur ...

, a

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USA ...

-61, suffered cabin pressure problems followed by a fire due to a failed landing gear. The pilots tried to return to the airport but failed to reach it and the plane crashed, killing all 247 passengers and 14 crew. *On 1 March 2004, PIA Flight 2002, an

Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...

B4-200, burst two tires whilst taking off. Fragments of the tire were ingested by the engines, causing the engines to catch fire and takeoff was aborted. Substantial damage to the engine and the left wing caused the aircraft to be written off. All 261 passengers and 12 crew survived. *In July 2015, a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane was taxiing to the terminal when it crashed into an airport vehicle.

Statistics

Notes

References

External links

* *Information on the GACA website for th
King Abdulaziz Int. Airport Development Project (KADP)
* * * {{authority control 1981 establishments in Saudi Arabia Airports established in 1981 Airports in Saudi Arabia Buildings and structures in Jeddah Transport in Jeddah Fazlur Khan buildings International airports in Saudi Arabia