A consortium, including Turkish airport operator TAV Airports and the Al Rajhi Group, was
awarded on June 8th, by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia, with the
contract to operate the Yanbu, Qassim and Hail international airports for 30 years.
TAV will operate airports in Buraydah in central Qassim province, the northwestern city of
Ha’il and the western port city of Yanbu for 30 years together with the Al Rajhi Group. These
airports are expected to serve a total of 11.5 million passengers.
TAV Airports’ CEO Sani Şener said in a statement that the number of airports operated by TAV and
the number of passengers served by TAV will reach 17 and 110 million respectively with the Yanbu,
Qassim and Ha’il airports.
Şener said the company would likely finance some 20% of their total planned investment of
USD 400 million for these airports through their own equity capital, with the remainder to be met
through loans from Saudi banks. This investment is needed for the construction of new terminals
and service unit, to be completed by 2020.