Infrastructure projects support Riyadh’s logistics ambitions
12 September 2023
This package on Saudi Arabia’s transport sector also includes:
> Contractors bid to build Ceer car plant
> Spark logistics zone to start operations in 2024
> Neom awards mountain tunnel package for The Line
> Neom tenders The Line railway track works
> Neom invites revised bids for Oxagon project
> Gaca awards Riyadh airport cargo package
Saudi Arabia reiterated its ambition to become a global logistics hub in late August when Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Transport and Logistics, launched the Master Plan for Logistics Centres.
The logistics centres plan, which involves developing 59 hubs across the kingdom, is part of a package of ongoing initiatives to overhaul the transport and logistics sectors first outlined by Prince Mohammed when he launched the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) in mid-2021.
The strategy’s ultimate goal is to raise the transport sector’s GDP contribution to 10 per cent from 6 per cent in 2021.
Airport ambitions
Developing infrastructure will be crucial for the success of the strategy. According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, there are $195bn-worth of active transport projects in Saudi Arabia.
The most significant subsector is airports, for which $85bn of projects are planned or under way. This is about 43 per cent of the transport total.
The largest upcoming airport project is the development of King Salman International airport (KSIA), which will ultimately expand and replace the existing King Khaled International airport (KKIA).
Launched in November 2022, the Foster + Partners-designed masterplan for KSIA involves building the largest airport in the world for passenger capacity. It aims to accommodate up to 120 million passengers by 2030 and 185 million by 2050. For cargo, the goal is to process 3.5 million tonnes a year by 2050.
While design work proceeds on KSIA, the KKIA continues to be upgraded. In June, a joint venture of Turkey’s IC Ictas and the local Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting was awarded the contract to complete the renovation of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.
The joint venture recently completed the renovation of Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 at the airport.
In August, local contractor First Fix secured a contract to construct a taxiway and apron for cargo, as well as civil and infrastructure works.
There are two other major airport projects planned in the kingdom. A design competition is expected to start later this year for a new Terminal 2 at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International airport (KAIA). It will be part of an estimated SR115bn ($31bn) expansion plan to make KAIA one of the world’s largest airports by increasing its capacity to 114 million passengers a year.
Jeddah plans $31bn airport expansion
The other major airport is planned for Neom. US firm Aecom confirmed in March that it had been awarded a contract to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for the new airport project, which will be built close to Tabuk.
Although not confirmed, it is understood that the first phase of the airport will have the capacity to handle 25 million passengers a year. A second phase could take the capacity up to 50 million. There is an aspiration for the airport to become the largest in the world, with a capacity of 100 million passengers annually.
Smaller domestic airports are also being developed. In March this year, France’s Egis Group was appointed to provide technical support and project management services for 26 smaller regional airports across Saudi Arabia.
These airport projects will support Saudi Arabia’s new airlines. Riyadh Air, which will fly out of the Saudi capital, was launched earlier this year, and there are also plans to launch Neom Airlines.
Port projects
There are $16bn of port projects planned or under way in the kingdom.
The largest is the expansion of Duba Port at Neom’s industrial city development, Oxagon. That project, which is already under construction, involves turning a small regional port into a major international port that will initially support construction activity at Neom.
Other port schemes in Saudi Arabia that are planned or under way include the expansion and upgrade of Jeddah Islamic Port, Ras al-Khair Port, King Abdulaziz Port and King Fahd Port.
Mawani implements $950m of Saudi port projects
Rail renaissance
The ports will connect to Saudi Arabia’s growing rail network. Rail accounts for about 20 per cent of the transport projects total, with almost $40bn of active projects.
The port at Oxagon will be connected to Neom’s rail network, which will link developments including The Line and the airport.
Nationally, the largest upcoming rail scheme is the long-awaited Saudi Landbridge project, which involves building railways to connect ports and industrial areas on the Red Sea coast in the west with Riyadh in the centre of the kingdom and the Gulf coast in the east.
Other rail projects planned include high-speed connections between Riyadh and other GCC capitals, including Doha and Kuwait City, urban rail projects in Riyadh and the Saudi sections of the GCC railway network.
Completing the transport infrastructure roll-out is expanding the Saudi road network. There are $54bn of road projects under development in the kingdom, which accounts for about 28 per cent of the transport total. These highways will provide vital links between the new and expanded airport and ports and the other projects under development in the kingdom.
More related reads:
> National champion Saudi Logistics Services is helping the kingdom meet its ambitious targets
> Neom seeks firms for Oxagon light rail
> Neom concludes air taxi tests
> Gigaproject seeks firms for Riyadh rail link
> Riyadh Air signs Boeing engines deal
Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.
Exclusive from Meed
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends
Related Articles
-
Iranian drone attack on Fujairah oil hub injures three5 May 2026
The UAE has accused Iran of attacking the country with a new barrage of missiles and drones, setting an oil facility ablaze in the emirate of Fujairah and wounding three Indian nationals.
The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said its air defences “engaged” a total of 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and four drones launched from Iran on 4 May.
The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned “in the strongest terms the renewed terrorist, unprovoked Iranian attacks targeting civilian sites and facilities”.
The foreign ministry statement added that the UAE will not tolerate any threat to its security and sovereignty, and warned that the country reserves the “full and legitimate right to respond” to the attacks.
Earlier in the day, a crude oil tanker affiliated with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) was hit by two drones in waters off the UAE and Oman, while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The attacks on 4 May mark the first on the UAE since Iran and the US agreed to a ceasefire on 8 April, with peace talks remaining deadlocked.
Iran has maintained a stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and the US has imposed a naval blockade in response.
On 3 May, US President Donald Trump said the US would begin escorting ships through the strait from the following day. US Central Command said it would use guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members.
Iran’s unified military command warned commercial ships against accepting the US offer and said American forces “will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz”.
Fujairah Oil Industry Zone attacks
The Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) has suffered at least half a dozen attacks since March, after the war between Iran and the US broke out on 28 February.
Fujairah benefits from its strategic geopolitical location outside the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies normally passes.
Major midstream oil and gas companies operate key storage and export hubs for oil and refined products in Fujairah, including Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group), Saudi Aramco – through its subsidiary Aramco Trading – Vopak Horizon, VTTI, Shell, Fujairah Oil Terminal, Brooge Petroleum & Gas Investment Company (BPGIC), Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc), Ecomar, Mount Row and GPS Chemoil.
Fujairah is crucial to the operations of Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Onshore, which operates a main oil terminal (MOT) there. Located approximately 300 kilometres north of Abu Dhabi, the terminal facilitates the import and export of various crude oil grades, particularly Murban, from the company’s onshore and offshore fields.
Additionally, the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (Adcop) connects milestone pole (MP) 21 at the Habshan oil facility in Abu Dhabi, where stabilised crude produced from Adnoc Onshore fields is gathered for dispatch, to the Fujairah MOT.
BPGIC is an oil storage and services firm that was established in 2013 in Fujairah and started operations with a capacity of 400,000 cubic metres spanning 14 tanks. In March 2022, it announced its intention to increase the storage capacity of four of those storage tanks in the first phase complex.
Separately, in September 2021, BPGIC began operations at the second phase of its Fujairah oil storage complex, adding 600,000 cubic metres of storage capacity across eight tanks. As a result of that expansion, BPGIC’s storage capacity more than doubled to 1 million cubic metres, or 6.3 million barrels, from 400,000 cubic metres.
BPGIC then undertook a third expansion phase of its oil storage facility, which is understood to have been commissioned in 2023.
The third phase increased BPGIC’s oil storage capacity by 3.5 times, raising it to 3.5 million cubic metres, or 22 million barrels, and making the firm the largest oil storage services provider in the UAE emirate of Fujairah.
The third-phase expansion project consists of an oil storage facility with a capacity of 2.5 million cubic metres, a modular 25,000-barrel-a-day (b/d) refinery, and a larger 180,000-b/d conventional refinery.
BPGIC also co-owns a topping refinery in Fujairah with Nigeria-based Sahara Energy Resources, which produces low-sulphur bunker fuel for ships and vessels. It is understood that the new naphtha upgradation unit could be integrated with the existing topping refinery unit.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16683608/main.jpg -
UAE signs aircraft deal with Brazil’s Embraer5 May 2026
The UAE’s Tawazun Council for Defence Enablement has formally awarded a contract to Brazilian manufacturer Embraer for the procurement of the C-390 Millennium aircraft.
The agreement comprises 10 firm orders, with an additional 10 options, representing a significant strategic effort to enhance the UAE’s operational airlift and logistics capabilities. The deal is the largest single-country international order for the C-390 aircraft to date and establishes a critical foothold for the platform in the Middle East.
The contract was signed by Nasser Humaid Al-Nuaimi, secretary general of the Tawazun Council for Defence Enablement, and Bosco da Costa Jr, president and CEO of Embraer Defence & Security. The deal was signed in the presence of Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, vice-president and deputy prime minister of the UAE, and Francisco Gomes Neto, president and CEO of Embraer.
The procurement decision was reached following a technical evaluation and field-testing campaign conducted within the UAE’s specific operational environment. This process ensured that the aircraft could meet the high performance and reliability standards required by the UAE Air Force and Air Defence. According to Tawazun officials, the C-390 was identified as the platform best suited to optimise lifecycle costs while maintaining high mission readiness across diverse and complex terrains.
Equipped for multi-mission versatility, the C-390 will enable the UAE military to perform varied roles, including troop and cargo transport, airdrop logistics and medical evacuations. Its design allows for seamless interoperability with national assets and partner forces, as well as the ability to operate from unpaved runways in challenging conditions. This flexibility is intended to support a wide range of military and humanitarian operations over the long term.
Beyond the acquisition of the aircraft, the contract also supports the growth of the UAE’s domestic defence sector. Embraer and UAE-based defence and technology firm Generation 5 Holding have signed an exclusive strategic partnership agreement to support the C‑390 Millennium programme in the UAE. Signed at the Make it in the Emirates 2026 platform in Abu Dhabi, the agreement covers the development of comprehensive maintenance, repair and overhaul and after-sales support capabilities in the UAE and the wider Middle East, aimed at ensuring mission readiness, rapid response and long-term fleet sustainability for regional operators.
The partnership also includes opportunities for industrial and supply-chain integration linked to the C‑390, alongside training programmes for technical, maintenance and operational personnel to support knowledge transfer and workforce development. Both companies said the agreement underscores a long-term commitment to building local support and industrial participation for the C‑390 fleet, with implementation to follow after the conclusion of ongoing conditions.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16683607/main.jpg -
Teams prepare $5bn Asir-Jizan highway PPP bids5 May 2026
Three groups are preparing to submit proposals for an estimated SR20bn ($5bn) contract to develop and operate the Asir-Jizan highway project.
Saudi Arabia’s Roads General Authority, the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP and the Aseer Development Authority (Asda) have set a new deadline of 31 May for firms to submit bids.
MEED understands the tender was issued in September last year, with bid submission previously due in March 2026.
According to sources close to the project, the consortiums that are planning to bid include:
- Shaanxi Construction Engineering / Safari / Lamar Holding (China/local/local)
- Makyol / Shibh Aljazira Contracting / Tamasuk (Turkiye/local/local)
- China Harbour Engineering Company / Vision Invest (China/local)
- Alayuni / Limak Holding / Nesma & Partners / Plenary (local/Turkiye/South Korea/local/Australia)
In August last year, five groups were qualified to bid for the contract. However, the consortium comprising Turkiye’s IC Ictas and local firm Algihaz Holding has decided not to pursue the project. South Korea’s Samsung C&T, previously part of the Plenary group, has also withdrawn.
The 136-kilometre Asir-Jizan highway will have three lanes in each direction and include six intersections, 57 bridges totalling 18km and 11 tunnels totalling 9km.
The project is one of four planned highway schemes in the kingdom’s privatisation and public-private partnership pipeline.
The route begins in Al-Farah in Asir and extends to the Red Sea through Jizan.
The 30-year contract will follow a design, build, finance, operate and maintain model.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16683583/main.jpg -
Financing deal signed for Egyptian biofuels facility5 May 2026
A financing deal has been signed for a planned biofuels facility to be developed at the Suez Canal Economic Zone in the Egyptian town of Ain Sokhna.
Several regional companies are involved in the project, including Qatari conglomerate Al-Mana Holding and Vision Invest, a Saudi Arabian infrastructure investor and developer.
The Arab Energy Fund, a multilateral impact financial institution, acted as the global structuring bank and co-mandated lead arranger for the financing deal, and is also the project’s largest lender.
Under current plans, the facility will be constructed on a 100,000-square-metre site and is expected to produce up to 200,000 tonnes a year of biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and hydrotreated vegetable oil, as well as biopropane and bionaphtha.
Commercial operations are scheduled to start by the end of next year.
In a statement, Green Sky Capital, one of the signatories to the financing deal, said that the project reinforces the region’s role in global energy transition value chains.
A long-term offtake deal has been agreed with the London-headquartered oil and gas company Shell.
Green Sky Capital has also entered into a technology agreement with France’s Axens and an engineering procurement and construction contract with Paris-headquartered SeaOwl.
The investment firm Rothschild & Co acted as financial adviser to Green Sky Capital on the transaction.
Ali Shaikh, chief executive of Green Sky Capital, said: “The signing of this financing marks a defining step in the development of our SAF platform and underscores the strategic importance of this project for the region.”
In December last year, the Suez Canal Economic Zone Authority signed a preliminary deal with Al-Mana Holding relating to the biofuels facility.
In a statement released last year, Egypt’s cabinet said the project would be implemented in three phases, with a $200m investment covering the first phase.
The planned facility forms part of Egypt’s broader strategy to reduce reliance on traditional fuels, enabling the country to export more of the hydrocarbons it produces.
MEED’s March 2026 report on Egypt includes:
> COMMENT: Egypt’s crisis mode gives way to cautious revival
> GOVERNMENT: Egypt adapts its foreign policy approach
> ECONOMY & BANKING: Egypt nears return to economic stability
> OIL & GAS: Egypt’s oil and gas sector shows bright spots
> POWER & WATER: Egypt utility contracts hit $5bn decade peak
> CONSTRUCTION: Coastal destinations are a boon to Egyptian constructionTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16683538/main.jpg -
Hassan Allam awarded Egypt urea plant contract5 May 2026
Egypt’s Hassan Allam Construction has been awarded a contract focused on overhauling three urea plants, according to a statement released by its parent company, Hassan Allam Holding.
The contract covers civil, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works for a larger project to revamp the three urea plants of Misr Fertilisers Production Company (Mopco) and develop a new carbon dioxide recovery unit in the Damietta Free Zone.
The upgrade project is expected to increase production capacity at the three urea plants from 1,940 metric tonnes a day (t/d) to 2,150 t/d.
In its statement, Hassan Allam Holding said that the upgrade would “boost production efficiency”.
It also said that it would reinforce Mopco’s position “as a leader in Egypt’s industrial landscape”.
In November last year, Mopco announced plans to invest up to $250m to increase its production capacity by 10%.
Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company is the largest shareholder, holding a 31.47% stake.
MEED’s March 2026 report on Egypt includes:
> COMMENT: Egypt’s crisis mode gives way to cautious revival
> GOVERNMENT: Egypt adapts its foreign policy approach
> ECONOMY & BANKING: Egypt nears return to economic stability
> OIL & GAS: Egypt’s oil and gas sector shows bright spots
> POWER & WATER: Egypt utility contracts hit $5bn decade peak
> CONSTRUCTION: Coastal destinations are a boon to Egyptian constructionTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16683342/main.jpg