Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has announced plans for a new airport in Riyadh, allegedly intended to spur rapid growth in the capital.
The airport is expected to be one of the world’s largest airports, covering an area of approximately 57 square km, allowing for six parallel runways and including the existing terminals.
Does it matter?
Al-Monitor website commented on the news, saying that Saudi Arabia’s current airport in Riyadh does not see nearly the amount of traffic that Dubai and Doha do.
Saudi Arabia is not a major transit hub like its neighbors Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, it said.
All Saudi airports registered 14 million passengers in 2021, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics. Dubai alone received more than 29 million international passengers last year, making it the busiest international airport in the world. Doha had 17 million passengers, making it the sixth busiest, according to Airports Council International.
The website further pointed out that many of the more ambitious projects in Vision 2030 remain unfinished and plagued by controversy. The crown prince’s planned futuristic megacity, NEOM, has been criticized for displacing local Saudi tribes, for example.
The Public Investment Fund’s pledge to power the King Salman International Airport will be particularly hard to achieve by 2030. Saudi Arabia remains committed to high oil production, though investment in green technology and renewable energy projects is accelerating in the kingdom.
Fake Projects
On October 6, 2017, MBS announced the designs of NEOM project, a civilizational revolution that puts humans first, providing an unprecedented urban living experience while preserving the surrounding nature. He declared plans to complete the project by 2020, but it is behind schedule.
The Neom “style catalog” includes elevators that somehow fly through the sky, an urban spaceport, and buildings shaped like a double helix, a falcon’s outstretched wings, and a flower in bloom. There will be swim lanes for commuters and “smart” everything.
The project has tapped futurists, international architects, and even Hollywood production designers.
However, the year 2022 is coming to a close, while the $500 billion project did not see the light of day.
Royal palaces among first contracts
Bin Salman’s extravagant spending since emerging as the main power broker in Saudi Arabia has repeatedly made headlines.
Although the Neom site was in a region few Saudis have ever visited, MBS made clear that he expected it to become a hub for national life.
However, the palaces for the king, crown prince and other senior royals, to be located on the Red Sea coast about 150 km west of the city of Tabuk, are among the first contracts awarded for NEOM
Satellite images showed that a series of large buildings was already under construction, surrounded by expanses of greenery that stuck out sharply from the desert. It was a new palace for the crown prince, where he’d soon be spending much of his time.
