JEDDAH: Proposals for an airport in Makkah have been ruled out by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Al-Watan Arabic daily reported Tuesday. GACA judged the idea as unfeasible because of the distance that airports are required to be from the city center, the difficulties posed by the mountainous geography of the area, and the close proximity of Makkah to Jeddah. Ali Al-Zahrani, GACA's head of Company Planning, noted at a meeting in Jeddah Monday that Madina Airport is not enough for the numbers of visitors to the city during the pilgrimage seasons and said that GACA'a vision for the future is to instead make Jeddah International Airport the “main center” of traffic into the Kingdom and the link between Makkah and the outside world. “We will have three main airports, and then we will work to have 25 airline companies to give us greater flexibility,” Al-Zahrani told the meeting. “But our focus will be primarily on making King Abdul Aziz International Airport the main center for the Kingdom as we expect increasing growth in the number of Haj and Umrah pilgrims coming in.” He said that expansion of the Jeddah airport entails three phases, the first beginning in 2014 with the completion of new terminals to handle some 18 million visitors a year. Longer-term plans include “airport cities” with sports stadiums and other recreational facilities. “Those plans should be made public within the next two years,” he said.
