ISLAMABAD: A report issued by the General Authority for Civil Aviation has disclosed that the total number of passengers using the Kingdom’s airports was more than 78 million in 2015, amounting to 8,000 travelers per hour.
The report said the number of flights arriving at and departing from King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) by Saudi and foreign aircraft was 190,328, amounting to 32 percent of the total number of flights using the Kingdom’s airports last year, Arab news reported.
The report noted that the number of passengers using KAIA worked out to 41 percent of the total number of passengers in the Kingdom.
Those using the airport also increased by more than 32 million. The total number of passengers using all airports in the Kingdom was 78 million.
The report said that the number of flights arriving and departing in Saudi and foreign aircraft through King Fahd International Airport in Dammam reached 72,168 flight, 12 percent of the total number of flights.
The report indicated the number of passengers at the King Fahd International Airport reached more than 30 million, or 38 percent of the total number of passengers across the international and domestic airports in the Kingdom.
The number of flights arriving and departing from King Khaled International Airport on Saudi and foreign aircraft amounted to 158,556, or 27 percent of the total number of arriving and departing flights, while the number of passengers arriving and departing through Saudi and foreign aircraft was more than 22 million passengers, or 28 percent of the total number of travelers in the Kingdom.
The report also indicated the number of flights arriving and departing from domestic airports in the Kingdom totaled 116,907 flights, an increase of 20 percent, while the number of passengers reached 13 million passengers, or 16 percent of the total number of passengers arriving and departing by Saudi and foreign aircraft.
Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madinah had the lowest number of Saudi and foreign aircraft trips, at 45,280 flights or seven percent of the total flights in the Kingdom, while the number of passenger departures and arrivals at the airport amounted to more than 5 million passengers, or six percent.
There are four international airports in the Kingdom in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah.
There are also a number of domestic and regional airports and the authorities are working on a number of expansion programmes with international and domestic airports.
