Engineers and other workers attend a meeting organized by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in Riyadh on Tuesday. (SPA)

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) will embark on a vigorous privatization program, beginning with Riyadh’s King Khaled International Airport (KKIA) in the first quarter of this year, according to Faisal Al-Sugair, chairman of the board of Saudi Civil Aviation Holding Co.

“The airport’s air traffic sector and the IT sector will be privatized in the second and third quarters of 2016 respectively,” he said in a press conference held at King Khaled International Airport here on Tuesday to brief on the future plans of GACA.

Al-Sugair said that the privatization of Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) will be completed in the second quarter of 2017 while the deadline for privatization of King Fahd International Airport of Dammam is the third quarter of 2017.

Al-Sugair, who is also adviser to GACA president, said that the privatization of domestic and local airports will be carried out during the period between 2018 and 2020. He said that GACA will follow three components while implementing privatization. The first will be transforming the airport into an airport company. The second is privatization of the operation and maintenance sectors, and this will be first implemented in the new airport in Jeddah. “Under this system, all the employees will be transferred to the investor, and GACA will bear the capital expense to establish the project while the investor will have its share in the revenue.” The third is BTO (build, transfer and operate) scheme like that of Prince Muhammad International Airport in Madinah. “GACA’s privatization strategy aims at transforming all airports in the Kingdom and some other sectors into companies owned by GACA in line with a royal decree issued in this regard,” he added.

Saudi not to use Iran airspace

Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), said that the Saudi planes do not cross the Iranian airspace as it is not in the regular air route of the Kingdom’s aircraft.

“On the contrary, Iranian planes need to cross the Saudi airspace on their way to different destinations in the African continent. The GACA’s decision to cut all air links with Iran would not affect Saudi Arabia adversely,” he said in a press conference held at King Khaled International Airport here on Tuesday.

Al-Hamdan said that halting of all flight services between the Kingdom and Iran also applicable to receiving of flights from any aviation companies associated with the Iranian government. The Kingdom had operated four weekly flight services between Dammam and Mashhad before suspension of the service, he added.

Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), and other officials attend a press conference in Riyadh on Tuesday. — SPA

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