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Air Travel Related
Information
     

The Kingdom has three international airports: King Khalid International in Riyadh, King Fahd International in Dhahran and the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. 

Plans are underway to convert the Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madinah into an international airport. There are also 24 regional and local airports.

Saudi Arabia’s national airline, Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA), started out in 1945 with the gift of a single twin-engine DC-3 Dakota from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The airline now has a fleet of around 140 aircraft with flights to cities within Saudi Arabia and around the world. It continues to expand its fleet, recently purchasing 15 regional aircraft from the Brazilian company Embraer. 

Saudi Arabian Airlines carries around 15 million passengers annually, one third of them international flights. Almost half of SAA’s 2,000 pilots are Saudi.


   

 

Saudi Arabia has made a special effort to expand its air transport facilities to accommodate the some two million Muslim pilgrims to come to the Kingdom each year.

The King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah is a center for pilgrims arriving for the hajj and has a dedicated pilgrim terminal. Plans are underway to expand the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah to include another Hajj terminal, and to build an additional runway and terminals at the Madinah airport.

In addition, Saudi Arabian Airlines runs extra flights during the hajj to accommodate the large number of pilgrims who travel to the Kingdom by air.

 
 

Related Information: Transportation & Communication

RecentNews:
 
07/29/2008   Bus fleet expanded by more than 1,000 in preparation for the Hajj
07/27/2008   Kingdom to spend $20 billion on ICT
07/23/2008   Agreement signed for new Jeddah airport terminal
05/08/2008   Kingdom to build major dockyard at the Islamic Port of Jeddah


Other Documents:


Transportation & Communication
The transport and communication networks installed in the last two decades of the 20th century have enabled Saudi Arabia to assume a significant and growing role in global economic and political affairs.
Roads and Railroads
Beginning with the First Development Plan (1970-74), the country established its comprehensive road network in less than two decades, at a cost of more than 34 billion U.S. dollars.
Public Transportation
The Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) is responsible for operating the country's inter-city and intra-city bus service.
Marine Transportation
Saudi Arabia has taken advantage of its extensive coastline for the nation's industrial development. The Kingdom has enlarged and modernized its 21 ports considerably in recent years, particularly the five major ones located at Jeddah, Dammam, Yanbu, Jizan and Jubail.
  
Communications
In keeping with his determination to build a modern state, King Abdulaziz had wireless telegraph stations set up in Makkah, Taif, Jeddah and Riyadh in the early 1930s.
  




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