AIRPORT operator TAV Airports said it has won the tender to expand and operate Prince Muhammad International Airport in the holy city of Madinah in Saudi Arabia for the next 25 years.

TAV had bid for the Prince Muhammad International Airport project jointly with Saudi Oger and Al Rajhi Holding Group and after an evaluation of the tender by the Saud Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), the consortium emerged the preferred bidder.

Once it obtains the required approvals and signs the contract, the consortium will embark on a project to increase the airport’s current capacity of four million to eight million passengers by building a new terminal which TAV will operate for 25 years under a build-transfer-operate scheme.

Sani Sener, president and CEO of TAV Airports, said: “We are proud to have won the operating rights for an airport in Saudi Arabia, one of the most important economies of Arabian peninsula and the Middle East, increasing the total number of airports we operate to eleven.”

TAV Airports currently operates Istanbul Atatürk Airport, Ankara Esenboga Airport, Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport’s International Terminal and Antalya Gazipasa Airport in Turkey as well as two airports each in Georgia, Tunisia and Macedonia.

Meanwhile, a new international terminal was opened at the airport last month by the GACA as part of its plans to boost facilities for pilgrims.

The new terminal has the capacity for 600 passengers per hour, which will double to 1,200 once the addition of a first floor is completed this month.

Meanwhile, efforts are under way to expand the airport’s parking bays to accommodate five widebody planes at a time.
Earlier this year, GACA also completed construction of two passenger lounges at the airport for Umrah passengers.