Saudi Arabia in talks to set up airport free zones: official

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), the kingdom’s aviation regulator, is in talks with other government agencies to set up airport free zones in Jeddah and Riyadh, GACA’s vice chairman Faisal Al-Sugair told Reuters.

The move is part of a wider plan to privatize the country’s airports and diversify its revenues away from oil.

The new free zones would aim to attract foreign companies by offering relaxed licenses, visa and taxation rules.

“This is not a simple development of a free zone; there's a lot of agencies involved,” Al-Sugair said. “The starting point would be one in Jeddah Airport and one in Riyadh Airport.”

Bids for Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport are expected by the end of April, and work on King Khaled International Airport’s Terminal 5 will be completed this year, and run by the Dublin Airport Authority.

The kingdom’s Council for Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA), Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Ministry of Commerce were said to be involved in the discussions. The organizations are working together to develop the right concept for the free zones; a process which Al-Sugair said would take time to complete.

CEDA’s privatization committee is expected to approve a funding plan for the remainder of the kingdom’s airports in April, which would come from only non-government sources.

“Once we corporatize, no more government funding. That's fundamental. If we cannot get that, we're wasting our time,” Sugair added.