King Khalid airport’s BHS contract to be awarded soon: report

The baggage handling system (BHS) contract for Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) is expected to be awarded soon to the selected supplier, MEED reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the project.

The joint venture between Turkey’s IC Ictas and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting was earlier awarded the $2.1 billion renovation contract for the Riyadh airport.

The joint venture has been holding discussions with a number of BHS suppliers, including Germany’s Siemens and the Netherlands’ Vanderlande.

Renovation works on the airport started last year and are expected to be completed in 2021.

The redevelopment of the airport will be conducted in phases, starting with terminals 3 and 4, the report said.

The following phases will entail redevelopment work for terminals 1 and 2, which cater to international flights.

Starting last year, all airports in Saudi Arabia have been organized under a holding entity called Saudi Civil Aviation Holding Company.

An airport company has also been formed for the Kingdom’s main airports, including the Riyadh Airports Company that operates King Khalid International.

There are plans to offer a minority stake in Riyadh Airports Company to private investors via an equity sale, the report said.

US-based Goldman Sachs was hired last year to advise on the sale, it added.