Ireland’s daa International contracted to manage Jeddah Airport - opportunities and threats

Ireland's daa International has forged a reputation at airports in parts of the world where some might consider management difficult. With two contracts already at Saudi airports, daa has now won a five-year contract to manage, and advise on operations, aviation business, non-aeronautical revenue and facilities at King Abdulaziz International Airport in cooperation with Jeddah Airports Company (JEDCO).

The King Abdulaziz International in Jeddah is a major international airport serving more than 38 million passengers in 2019 and with a capacity for over 46 million passengers per annum. The airport is well known for its open-air terminal for the seasonal Hajj influx.

Saudi Arabia is at a turning point, at least potentially, becoming more open to foreign visitors and those in transit and actively publicising tourist attractions internationally. But anyone doing business there lives in the shadow of growing concern about human rights abuses, the war in Ukraine having put 'abuse' in the global spotlight just as the Saudi authorities resurrect airport privatisation plans abandoned several years ago.