Construction begins on Jeddah airport terminal
Authorities in Saudi Arabia have announced the start of construction on a new terminal at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz Airport. The US $7.2 billion project will be delivered by the Saudi Bin Laden Group, which was awarded the contract in November 2010. The contract includes work to build a single 670,000m² terminal with 94 aircraft bays and “the world’s tallest airport control tower”, which will stand at 133m. Supporting infrastructure includes roads to link the terminals and the pre-planned high-speed railway, between Mecca and Medina. The upgrades will allow the airport to process up to 20 million passengers and are expected to take 36 months to complete. The cornerstone was laid by the Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz in a ceremony held at the site.