The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) has defended its decision regarding fees for parking at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah and a fee of SR5 per hour for those who take more than 10 minutes to drop off passengers. Positive results have proven the effectiveness of the new policies, the GACA said in a statement. The agency compared parking prices at KAAIA with those at Heathrow Airport in London, England; La Guardia Airport in New York City, USA; and at airports in Cairo, Dubai, Lebanon, Qatar and Malaysia. Only Cairo and Malaysia have lower parking rates, the statement said. Offering the parking project to private sector provides benefits from the firms' abilities to develop the lots and provide high-tech operating systems that serve the airport in several respects, the statement said.
