Meed | Red Sea airport welcomes ceremonial flight

Red Sea airport welcomes ceremonial flight

11 October 2023

Red Sea International, the airport serving the Red Sea gigaproject on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, has welcomed a ceremonial flight operated by national carrier Saudia.

The flight on 11 October marks the start of commercial Saudia flights to Red Sea International, which has been assigned the code RSI.

Flight SV2030 departed King Khalid International airport at 0800 and arrived at Red Sea International at 0955.

The flight is a landmark moment for the Red Sea Project as it transitions from launching and building projects to opening and operating assets.

Speaking to passengers on the flight, Red Sea Global CEO John Pagano highlighted the work that is now completed: “It has taken six years to turn vision into reality,” he said.

The Red Sea Project was first launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in 2017.

At the time, the proposed land was completely undeveloped. Since then, 9,139 contract awards with a total value of SR48bn ($12.8bn) have been awarded to deliver the series of coastal and inland resorts.

Red Sea International airport is crucial for the operation of these resorts. The airport’s design was revealed in October 2019 with UK-based Foster & Partners as the architect.

The first major construction contract for the airport was awarded in 2020 when a joint venture of Almabani and Nesma & Partners secured the estimated $250m contract for the runways and associated airside infrastructure works.

For the landslide facilities, which include the airport’s main terminal building, Red Sea Global chose to construction manage the project itself after initially tendering a main construction contract. The terminal building is now under construction.

In January 2021, Red Sea Global signed a deal with Ireland’s DAA International to deliver airfield and terminal operations, aviation services, facilities management, commercial activities and corporate and financial services for the airport.

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Colin Foreman