Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is preparing to tender project management consultancy (PMC) contracts for the delivery of King Salman International airport (KSIA) in Riyadh.

It is expected that there will be three contracts tendered that will cover the landside areas, airside areas, and the terminal buildings. There may also be a fourth PMC package tendered later.

It is expected that PMC roles will be assigned before tendering for main construction packages starts. Some contracting companies have already started to form joint ventures for the project.

Firms are already working on the project. UK-based Mace has won the delivery partner role earlier this year. Delivery partner roles typically involve assisting the project client with the development of the project. This includes project management, design management, cost consulting and procurement advice.

Foster + Partners, also based in the UK, won the competition to design the masterplan. The architectural firm is now working on the concept designs for the airport’s buildings, while US-based Jacobs is working on the infrastructure design for the airport.

Project scale

The project covers an area of about 57 square kilometres, allowing for six parallel runways, and will include the existing terminals at King Khalid International airport (KKIA). It will also include 12 sq km of airport support facilities, residential and recreational facilities, retail outlets and other logistics real estate.

If the project is completed on time in 2030, it will become the world’s largest operating airport in terms of passenger capacity, according to GlobalData.

The airport aims to accommodate up to 120 million passengers by 2030 and 185 million by 2050. For cargo, the goal is to process 3.5 million tonnes a year by 2050.

There were contract awards for construction work at KKIA last year. In June, a joint venture of Turkiye’s IC Ictas and the local Al Rashid Trading & Contracting was awarded the contract to complete the renovation of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. The joint venture finished renovating terminals 3 and 4 earlier this year.

Saudi Arabia plans to invest $100bn in its aviation sector. Riyadh’s Saudi Aviation Strategy, announced by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca), envisages tripling Saudi Arabia’s annual passenger traffic to 330 million travellers by 2030.

It also aims to increase air cargo traffic to 4.5 million tonnes and raise the country’s total air connections to more than 250 destinations.