KFIA is on track to welcome more than 9 million passengers this yearKFIA is on track to welcome more
KFIA is on track to welcome more than 9 million passengers this year
26-May-2015
In Q1 2015, the airport achieved a growth rate of 18.5%, handling over 2.4 million passengers.
Located 20 kilometers northwest of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) serves the entire Eastern Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, mainly the ever increasing population centresof Dammam, Dhahran, Al Khobar, Qatif and RasTanura, while also covering the fast developing city of Jubail and its cluster of industrial complexes.
As the leading gateway to the region, the airport continues to grow from strength to strength, anchored by the strong partnership between the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), KFIA and Changi Airports International (CAI) to manage and operate KFIA. The cooperation enabled KFIA to achieve unprecedented growth in the number of airlines, passenger traffic and city links. KFIA is served by 35 airlines and has added 15 new destinations since 2008 to develop a global network of 65 cities. In 2014, KFIA handled more than 8.49 million passengers, a growth rate of 12%, which exceeded competitor airports in the region for the second consecutive year.
In the same year, international traffic increased by 10% and now accounts for more than half of KFIA's passenger traffic, with the addition of new airlines or increased services from existing airlines such as Lufthansa, Philippine Airlines and Jet Airways to Europe, Southeast Asia and South Asia.
Also during the first quarter of 2015, international traffic grew by over 16% as KFIA continues to introduce more direct flight connections to Asia and Europe. "The momentum continues to accelerate and in the first quarter of 2015 KFIA achieved a growth rate of 18.5%, handling over 2.4 million passengers," said Engineer Yousef Al-Dhahri, Director-General of KFIA. "This is the highest number of passengers handled in a single quarter in KFIA's history and the airport is on track to welcome more than 9 million passengers this year."
"KFIA and GACA are working together to further improve connectivity in KFIA to respond to the growing traffic, with the support of the Eastern Province Municipality and leading Saudi businesses in the region," Al-Dhahri added.
To enhance its air cargo services, KFIA inaugurated the new multi-modal Cargo Village facility on 6 April 2015, with DHL Express, NAQEL, SMSA Express, TNT and UPS operating as anchor tenants. Additional capacity is coming on-line and will assist the airlines operating into the Kingdom.