Saudi Binladin group wins $7.2b airport contracts

Jeddah: Saudi industrial conglomerate Saudi Binladin Group has won two contracts worth 27 billion riyals (Dh26.42 billion) to revamp King Abdul Aziz International Airport in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, the state news agency reported. The contracts were for the first phase of a development project that will raise the airport's annual capacity to 30 million passengers, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said yesterday.

Top Opec oil exporter Saudi Arabia plans to spend billions of riyals in coming decades to overhaul some of its airports.

In March, the kingdom's civil aviation authority said traffic at Saudi airports had reached 30 million passengers annually and was expected to double to 60 million over 10 years.

In 2010, around 15 million passengers were handled at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport, resulting in more than 100,000 flight movements, according to the airport's own statistics.

King Abdul Aziz International Airport is located 19 kilometres north of Jeddah. The airport is Saudi Arabia's third largest air facility. It currently occupies 15 square km.

Because of Jeddah's closeness to Makkah, it features a Haj terminal specially built to handle foreign pilgrims who travel through the terminal to take part in the Haj.

The Saudi Binladin Group is a multinational construction conglomerate and holding company for the assets owned by the Bin Laden family, headquartered in Jeddah.

The group's companies are playing a key role in building Saudi Arabia's infrastructure.

It has constructed more than 5,000 kilometres of roads throughout the kingdom and built or participated in the construction of nearly 25 airports within the region and other countries, including Malaysia, Syria, and Egypt. In 2007, the group won the contract to build the Haj terminal at King Abdul Aziz International Airport.

--With inputs from Reuters