Neom Bay Airport marks major milestone with debut commercial flight
National carrier Saudia will operate twice weekly services to high-tech $500bn project
Saudi Arabia’s Neom Bay Airport, part of the futuristic $500 billion Neom project, has achieved a major milestone with the successful operation of its debut commercial flight, following the completion of Phase One of its development work, it has been announced.
According to a statement from Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), the national carrier, Saudia, launched its debut flight to Neom Bay Airport from the capital Riyadh, on 30 June, 2019. This marked the start of a twice weekly service to Neom Bay.
The airport is located in Sharma, in the north-western region of Tabuk. It will serve the high-tech city of Neom, which is currently under construction, the statement added.
A special ceremony was held to mark the milestone, which was attended by Abdulhadi AlMansouri, president of Saudi GACA; Engineer Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of Neom; and director general of Saudia, Engineer Saleh Al-Jasser.
The $500 billion Neom project was launched in October 2017 by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Neom is planned to be a business and industrial zone that also links with Jordan and Egypt.
In the statement, GACA said that Neom Bay Airport had been licensed and was ready to receive commercial flights. At present, it is conducting regular flights to investors and employees of the Neom project, it added. Meanwhile, the Neom airport has also taken a giant stride in its journey towards a new tomorrow with its airport operating 5G network technology, the first application regionally, it added.
