Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Holding Company (Matarat) and the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP) are expected to award the contract to develop and operate a new passenger terminal building and related facilities at Abha International airport by March next year.

The announcement was made by Abdulaziz Al-Duailej, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca), at the Supply Chain and Logistics Conference 2025 in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The companies prequalified to bid for the contract are:

• GMR Airports (India)
• Mada TAV: Mada International Holding (local) / TAV Airports Holding
• Touwalk Alliance: Skilled Engineers Contracting (local) / Limak Insaat (Turkiye) / Incheon International Airport Corporation (South Korea) / Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair & Partners, Lebanon) /  Obermeyer Middle East (Germany/Abu Dhabi)
• VI Asyad DAA: Vision International Investment Company (local) / Asyad Holding (local) / DAA International (Ireland)

Located in Asir Province, the first phase of the Abha International airport public-private partnership (PPP) project will expand the terminal area from 10,500 square metres (sq m) to 65,000 sq m.

In early March this year, the clients held one-on-one meetings with prospective bidders in Riyadh, as reported by MEED.

The contract scope includes a new rapid-exit taxiway on the existing runway, a new apron to serve the new terminal, access roads to the new terminal building and a new car park area.

Additionally, the scope includes support facilities, such as an electrical substation expansion and a new sewage treatment plant. 

Construction is scheduled for completion in 2028.

The project will be developed under a build-transfer-operate (BTO) model and involves designing, financing, constructing and operating a greenfield terminal.

This will be the kingdom’s third airport PPP project, following the Hajj terminal at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International airport and the $1.2bn Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International airport in Medina.

Higher capacity

According to Matarat, Abha airport’s capacity will increase to accommodate over 13 million passengers annually—a 10-fold rise from its current 1.5 million capacity.

Once completed, the airport will handle more than 90,000 flights a year, up from 30,000.

The new terminal is also expected to feature 20 gates and 41 check-in counters, including seven new self-service check-in kiosks.

The BTO contract duration is 30 years.

The existing terminal, which served 4.4 million passengers in 2019, will be closed once the new terminal becomes operational.

Matarat’s transaction advisory team for the project comprises UK-headquartered Deloitte as financial adviser, ALG as technical adviser and London-based Ashurst as legal adviser.