King Fahd International Airport

THE MAIN AIRPORT FACILITIES

The Multi-Story Passenger Terminal Complex

The passenger terminal represents the focal point for the airport structures. It is designed in a way that caters to the future and includes commercial facilities for SAUDIA and other international airlines. The terminal has six stories of which three are allocated for passenger processing – the third level for arrivals, the sixth level for departures and the fourth level for boarding – and two partial levels: the mezzanine service level and the mezzanine level (upper most level). The passenger terminal’s total area is 327,000 sq. m., approximately 247,500 sq. m. where built in the first phase. In addition to 11 fixed passenger boarding bridges serving 15 gates out of an original design capacity of 31 fixed boarding bridges. The terminal is equipped with several counters of which 66 were allocated to SAUDIA, 44 to foreign airlines and the rest for Customs and Immigration.

Movement and operations run smoothly in the six levels of the terminal as shown below:

·     1^st Floor:  Service Level

       This floor lies underground and houses mechanical and electrical equipment rooms and shall be used in the future for a number of projects such as maintenance workshops, offices, bus parking and garbage collection services.

·     2^nd Floor:  Mezzanine Service Level

       This floor is considered as a link between the terminal and car park and houses the Ministry of Health clinic. This floor is also the basement floor.

·     3^rd Floor:  Ground Floor (Arrivals Level)

       Accommodates Customs and Immigration services for processing passengers arriving through certain gates and for those arriving by airport buses from planes.

·     4^th Floor:  Boarding Level

       This floor acts as a link between the aircraft and arrivals & departure levels. It contains waiting areas for domestic passengers. It also contains 3 bridges leading to the car park in addition to an airport information office.

·     5^th Floor:  Departure Level (Domestic & International Departures)

       his floor contains departure processing and check-in counters.

·     6^th Floor:  Mezzanine (Balcony)

       This floor accommodates the airport administration offices. The balcony is designed to enable visitors to enjoy the sight of the aircraft takeoff and landing area. It also contains a cafeteria for employees, a library and a presentation room.

The passenger terminal is characterized by the vertical separation between the domestic and international passengers. The northern side of the concourse building contains two boarding lounges allocated for international flights only. These two lounges are composed of two levels in addition to a group of fixed walkways parallel to the moving walkways to enable international and domestic passengers to use the gates of the fixed bridges easily. A separate walkway is allocated to arrivals on international flights and leads to Immigration, Security and Customs counters.

The passenger terminal is not just distinguished for its design but also by the many amenities of comfort and enjoyment starting from the high ceilings of its departure level which give the individual a great feeling of spaciousness, the soft lighting in all parts of the terminal, the automatic curtains that go up and down according to the intensity of the sun light, in addition to the deluxe furniture, and numerous aesthetical touches represented by the luxurious marble and glass facades.

In one of the terminal corners a space furnished with chairs and tables was allocated for arriving and departing passengers waiting to catch their next flights and arrange their travel papers in a calm place while enjoying a cold or hot drink which they can buy from the adjacent shops.

The number of passengers in the first year of the airport operation is expected to reach 2,650,000 passengers on domestic flights and 2,500,000 on international flights.

The airport is equipped with a very advanced communication systems such as mobile radio, a public address system, FIDS system, etc. Each gate is equipped with an auto parking system for all types of civil aircraft. All aircraft positions and gates are equipped with air conditioning systems and all gates are equipped with underground fueling lines at the terminals.

Runways

The airport has two parallel runways with a length of 4,000 meters each, in addition to taxiways parallel to the runways. A distance of 2,146 meters separates the two runways to facilitate simultaneous takeoff and landing operations by the biggest aircraft available now or in the future. Provision was made for the construction of a third parallel runway if need arises. A road for ground support equipment runs along the western side of the central terminal and is designed to allow GSE (ground support equipment) to have access to aircraft and also to facilitate the movement of baggage vehicles from aircraft to baggage areas.

Royal Terminal

The Royal Terminal is allocated for the use of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz, the Kingdom’s guests from Kings and Heads of states to senior government officials. The terminal was built on an area of 16,400 sq. m. and has four bridges linking the terminal and aircraft. The Royal Terminal is well furnished with luxurious furniture, fixtures and fine works of art by well-known Saudi and Arab artists. A landscaped area with beautiful trees and flowers surrounds it on the outside.

The Mosque

The mosque is built on the roof of the car park and in the middle of the landscaped area of 46,200 sq. m. It has an architectural design that combines between the modern architectural style and the old Islamic style, which is represented by the arches, dome and other Islamic decorations and carvings on the doors, mihrab and pulpit (minbar).

Access to the mosque can be easily gained from the passenger terminal through two enclosed air conditioned bridges equipped with moving belts in addition to a third open bridge. The mosque accommodates two thousand worshippers.

Car Parking

The total area of the car park is 176,752 sq. m. distributed among three covered floors. The parking area accommodates 4,930 cars. Cars enter the parking through a roadway that leads to the 2^nd floor. There is direct access to the passenger terminal from the parking on the 1^st floor, which lies under the access road with exits leading on to the main road.

All parking is characterized by clear roadways and pedestrian directional signs in addition to the lifts that link them directly to the mosque plaza and ablution facility.

Two open parking areas are available besides the car rental service parking to accommodate additional cars.

Air Traffic Control Tower and Its Associated Systems

The control tower stands 85.5 meters high, i.e., equivalent to a height of 30 story building. The height allows a 360-degree visibility over all parts of the airport operations area. Its total floor area is 7,960 sq. m. and contains the following three main sections:

1.    Air Traffic Control Level

2.    Mezzanine Level (1) which accommodates air control and communication support equipment.

3.    Mezzanine Level (2) allocated for a kitchen and toilets.

The tower is equipped with state-of-the-art communication systems for directing pilots and ground control.

Central Power Plant

This plant distributes electric power and is equipped with three 7-megawatt standby generators. It also accommodates 4 chillers with a capacity of 5,000 tons for the provision of chilled water necessary for air conditioning systems and a pumping station connected to a 16 thousand meter long pipeline for fire services.

The Central Desalination Plant and the Waste Water Treatment Plant

The central desalination plant uses the reverse osmosis system and has a production capacity of 13,600 cu. m. of desalinated water per day. The plant supplies the airport facilities with potable and ablution water, which is characterized by its high purity.

The waste water treatment plant with a production capacity of 6,000 cu. m./day collects and treats sewage water using technical and sanitary methods and then pumps it to be used in irrigation around the airport.

Air Cargo Terminal Complex

The two-story air cargo building is constructed on an area of 39,500 sq. m. and has a cpacity of 94,000 metric tons of incoming and outgoing cargo.

The terminal’s design allows for transforming the terminal operation system in future to a fully automatic one equipped with multi-level racks and container stacker system. When the air cargo facility becomes fully automatic its capacity will rise to 176,000 metric tons per year.

Catering Services Building (In-flight Meals)

The aircraft catering building covers a total area of 17,287 sq. m. It is equipped with the most advanced equipment and installations according to the best international standards.

This facility shall produce eight thousand in-flight meals, one thousand meals for employees and 300 meals for the Royal Terminal restaurant per day. These figures can be increased if demand increases.

Nursery and Landscaping

KFIA has its own nursery on a total area of 215,579 sq. m., which encompasses three green houses and 36,400 sq. m. of green fields. The nursery supplies the airport gardens and planted areas with trees and plants.

Fire & Rescue Facility

The airports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are considered among the best airports in the world with respect to security and safety systems. KFIA has a 24-hour fire unit equipped with the latest equipment and machinery that enables it to reach any location in the airport, in case of fires, within just three minutes. This record time enables the unit to control and suppress fire immediately. There is also a rapid rescue unit that provides first aid services to casualties through a fully equipped clinic.

Commercial Services Area

King Fahd International Airport shall occupy a leading position among the Kingdom’s international airports, as it is the first to adopt the duty free markets concept. This shall enable the airport to contribute to the Region’s economic development, tourism and commercial activity and thus generate more revenue.

In addition to the spaces allocated to duty free markets the airport allocates a separate area for shops specializing in the sale of gifts and all passenger related goods. This area includes restaurants, cafeterias and banks and is located on the arrival level.

Meteorological Systems and Facilities

Forecasting weather conditions is of utmost importance to any airport. At KFIA weather information is complied by its advanced meteorological system, which includes ground control equipment, satellite image receiving systems, transmitting system, weather radar system and receivers of upper atmosphere strata observation results. All this information is complied and relayed to the weather forecasting center.

The meteorological center lies in the southeastern part of the airport, which provides a good view of the whole airport and enables good coordination between the meteorology balloon launching operations and aircraft takeoff and landing operations.

Saudi ARAMCO Facilities

Saudi ARAMCO is responsible for supplying fuel to KFIA and maintaining its fuel installations at KFIA. These fuel installations include six large tanks with a capacity of 40 thousand barrels each, in addition to pumping equipment, filters, loading stations and the distribution valve network, which is composed of 88 units.

The airport is supplied with aircraft fuel by a special pipe network. Operation and control of the fuel system is accomplished by a main control center.

In addition, an advanced fleet of fuel tankers provides fueling services to all types of commercial aircraft. This facility is operated and maintained by a team of qualified Saudi personnel who were trained abroad on the most modern systems and technologies in this field.

Utility Corridor

This is an underground reinforced concrete tunnel with a width of 6.7 m., a height of 4.5 m. and a length of 3,209.8 m.

This tunnel accommodates various utility lines (potable water, fire water, electricity, chilled water, treated sewage water used for irrigation purposes and the central plant chilled water). All these lines are well arranged with enough space for maintenance technicians and security personnel. The tunnel’s design makes provision for future expansion if required.