Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport
| Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  MED | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Privatized | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | TIBAH Airports Development Co. (TAV Airports Holding) | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Medina | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Medina, Saudi Arabia | ||||||||||||||
| Hub for | Saudia | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 2,151 ft / 656 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 24°33′12″N 039°42′18″E / 24.55333°N 39.70500°ECoordinates: 24°33′12″N 039°42′18″E / 24.55333°N 39.70500°E | ||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2014) | |||||||||||||||
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Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport or Prince Mohammad Airport (IATA: MED, ICAO: OEMA) is a regional airport in Medina. Opened in 1950, it handles domestic flights, while it has scheduled international services to regional destinations such as Cairo, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul and Kuwait. and It also handles charter international flights during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. The Pilgrims for Hajj and Umrah can enter Saudi Arabia through this airport or through Jeddah airport only.
It is the fourth busiest airport in Saudi Arabia, handling 5,703,349 passengers in 2014, including 678,200 Hajj charter and 1,100,175 Umrah charter passengers[3] .
The existing airport achieved international status in 2007. The winning consortium comprised TAV Airports of Turkey and Saudi Oger Limited and Al Rajhi Holding Group, both of Saudi Arabia. In October 2011, the consortium entered into a contract with the Civil Aviation Authority of Saudi Arabia (GACA) to build and operate the Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Al Madinah Al-Munawarah under a 25 year concession. The project reached financial close on 30 June 2012, securing a total of US$1.2 billion financing package from a club of Saudi Arabian banks. The project has been structured as a Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) project so that GACA retains ownership of the airport infrastructure. The consortium, through the special purpose vehicle incorporated for the project, TIBAH Airports Development Company Limited, will be responsible for the management of the airport, including airside and landside operations. GACA will continue to act as regulator and will be responsible for air traffic control operation.
The 25 year concession is the first full public private partnership (PPP) project in Saudi Arabia. The project has an initial build cost of US$1.2 billion and which may, with future investments and expansions, increase to US$1.5 billion. Whilst there are a number of major transport projects in the pipeline in the GCC region, it was the largest infrastructure project to close in 2012. The three lenders - National Commercial Bank, Arab National Bank and Saudi British Bank - provided a US$1.2 billion Islamic financing package comprising a three-year US$436 million commodity Murabaha equity bridge facility, an 18-year US$719 million procurement facility (in several tranches) and a US$23 million working capital facility. The facilities were primarily denominated in Saudi Riyals (SAR).[4]
Madinah Airport has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for the recent terminal expansion from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED certification is considered the industry standard in defining and measuring “green,” sustainable construction. The award makes Madinah Airport home to the first LEED Gold certified commercial airport terminal in MENA region, demonstrating Madinah Airport’s commitment to environment, sustainability, passenger comfort, and efficiency.[5]
New Madinah airport test operations have begun on 12 April 2015. A Saudi Arabian Airlines domestic flight coming from Riyadh landed at 11 a.m. at the new Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah, marking the start of the airport’s test run operations. Flight SV1435 was the first to land at the airport. Another aircraft, flight SV1476, then took off at 11:45 a.m., the first ever to take off from the new facility.[6]
Airlines and destinations
Incidents and accidents
On 16 March 2001, the airport was the scene of a bloody end to the hijacking of a Russian based Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 jet bound from Istanbul to Moscow carrying 162 passengers. The hijackers, apparently Chechen Separatists, had landed at the airport and had demanded additional amount of fuel to fly to Afghanistan. After 18 hours of no negotiations, Saudi Security forces stormed the plane bringing an end to the hijack. There were three fatalities, including a hijacker, a Turkish passenger, and a Russian Air stewardess.[10]
On 5 January 2014, a Saudia Boeing 767-300, flight SV2841 from Mashhad, Iran made an emergency landing after one of its main landing gear failed to deploy. The aircraft was traveling from the Iranian city of Mashhad with 315 passengers on board, 29 people were injured as they exited the aircraft that was in a nose-up position, 11 were taken to hospital, while the rest were treated at the airport's medical center.[11]
Statistics
Passenger and Airport Traffic Movement (ATM) numbers
| Years | Passengers | ATMs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011[12] |  3,547,508 | 32,935 | ||
| 2012[13] | 4,588,158 | 36,499 | ||
| 2013[14] | 4,669,181 | 40,000 | ||
| 2014[15] | 5,703,349 | 48,549 | ||
| Source: TAV Investor Relations[16] | ||||
See also
- List of airports in Saudi Arabia
- Transportation in Saudi Arabia
References
- ↑ http://www.tavyatirimciiliskileri.com/en-EN/Documents/dec_2014.pdf
- ↑ http://www.tavyatirimciiliskileri.com/en-EN/Documents/dec_2014.pdf
- ↑ http://www.tavyatirimciiliskileri.com/en-EN/Documents/dec_2014.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/knowledge/publications/79152/10-things-to-know-about-the-madinah-airport-expansion-ppp-transaction
- ↑ http://www.tibahairports.com/en-EN/pressroom/Pages/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?pid=17
- ↑ "New Madinah airport test operations begins". Saudi Gazette. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ↑ JL (8 November 2013). "ETIHAD to Start Madinah Service from Feb 2014; Airline Route – Worldwide Airline Route Updates". Airlineroute.net. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
- ↑ "flynas Adds Madinah – Dubai Route from April 2015". Airlineroute.net. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
- ↑ PK to MED
- ↑ "Bloody end to Chechen HIjack". BBC News. 16 March 2001. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ↑ "29 injured as Saudia jet makes emergency landing".
- ↑ http://www.tavyatirimciiliskileri.com/en-EN/Documents/december_2012.pdf
- ↑ http://www.tavyatirimciiliskileri.com/en-EN/Documents/december_2012.pdf
- ↑ http://www.tavyatirimciiliskileri.com/en-EN/Documents/dec_2013.pdf
- ↑ http://www.tavyatirimciiliskileri.com/en-EN/Documents/dec_2014.pdf
- ↑
External links
- General Authority of Civil Aviation
- TAV Airports
- Airport information for OEMA at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
