Discussions have taken place for the provision of duty-free and other services at Dammam's King Fahd International Airport. The airport's supervision committee meeting, headed by Abdullah Bin Muhammad Nour Rahimi, chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), said the supervision committees for each of the Kingdom's international airports were part of the GACA program to turn airports into independent, commercial units that would eventually become independent state-owned companies. As part of its modernization program, GACA this week invited companies to tender bids for projects at Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz Airport, including the design of a central runway traffic underpass. An airport development project official said that other contracts would be for a luggage system at a projected terminal complex expected to host all airlines, including the national carrier, under a single roof and handling 43 million passengers a year. A monorail train system is also projected for transport between the terminals, which will have 42 gates with 74 bridges connected to 63 aircraft of various types. Passenger movement between parking lots and gates will be facilitated by automatic walkways.
