The milestone steps in the March of civil aviation in the Kingdom

---

 
The beginnings:
Based on the conviction of King Abdulaziz of the importance of civil aviation as a necessary element to achieve the renaissance that he envisioned for the country.  The first building blocks for the civil aviation sector set by our founding father King Abdulaziz started, when a private aircraft that was gifted to him by US President Roosevelt during their historic meeting on February, 1945.  His Royal Highness, the King in turn gifted the aircraft to the people of Saudi Arabia, thereafter, regular domestic flights between Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran started.  The aircraft in mention was a Dakota DC-3 manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company and landed in Jeddah in 1945.
 
A few month after the arrival of the aforementioned plane, King Abdulaziz ordered the purchase of two other aircrafts of the same type.  The three aircrafts constituted the budding nucleus of the civil aviation in the country.  Thereafter, a department was formed called the (Aviation Division), which oversaw technical issues.  Administrative affairs was handled by a department named (Airline Administration).  In 1948, King Abdulaziz ordered for the establishment of the civil aviation authority, which included both Saudia Airlines and the civil aviation administration.
 
Soon after World War 2, King Abdulaziz ordered the purchase of five (Dakota Douglas DC-3) aircrafts, later on six aircrafts of the same type were added and soon after three more were purchased.  At some later date, five Bristol  aircrafts were added to the fleet. In 1947, regularly scheduled flights were operated between Jeddah, Riyadh, Al Hafuf and Dhahran, international flights followed thereafter, to each of Oman, Beirut , Cairo and Damascus.
 
Recognizing the importance of legislation and regulations of the civil aviation sector, King Abdulaziz oversaw four aviation regulatory acts in 1946, namely, the airport tariffs system, land and aircrafts transit system, airports construction and air navigation system.  And in 1953, a royal decree was issued approving the integrated civil aviation system, which included a number of articles regulating air traffic in the territory of the Kingdom and its airports.
 
Before King Abdulaziz passing and by the end of 1954, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia owned (32) aircrafts, of which (10) were DC-3, five Bristol 170, seven DC-4 and ten Convair 340.
 
The most important stages of airports construction in the Kingdom:
 
After the Kingdom received its first civilian airplane mentioned above, King Abdulaziz ordered for the establishment of a number of dirt runways in various parts of the Kingdom, led by runways in Riyadh, Dhahran, Al Hawiya in Taif, Al Hafouf, Buraidah, Jazan, Al kharj and Afif.  The first flight that King Abdulaziz took was on the 4th of October, 1945, directly from Afif to Al Hawiya in the city of Taif.  More runways were established thereafter in a number of region around the Kingdom, same while two more aircrafts were added to the fleet.  Some of these runways were the cornerstones for new airports with facilities that was adequate for that era.  Regularly scheduled flights were operated by Saudi Arabian Airlines thereafter.
 
At later date, the late King Abdulaziz (God rest his soul), ordered for the establishment of the first modern integrated airport in the city of Jeddah.  The airport was erected in Al Kandra District and was inaugurated in 1952, the late King Saud bin Abdulaziz, who was the Crown Prince then.
 
And on the 17th of April, 1962, King Saud bin Abdulaziz inaugurated the new Dhahran International Airport, which continued operating as a major airport in the Eastern Province, until the construction of King Fahad International Airport in a different location and was inaugurated by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in 1999, who was the Crown Prince back then.
 
On Sunday, the 12th of April, 1981, King Khalid bin Abdulaziz inaugurated King Abdulaziz International Airport, which replaced the old Jeddah airport, while King Khalid International Airport replaced the old Riyadh airport.  Subsequently the airport was inaugurated by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahad bin Abdulaziz on Wednesday, November 16, 1983.  Meanwhile in Jumad Al Thani 1427, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz gave his order to transform Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport into an international one.  Furthermore, in 2009 the order was given to construct and operate Prince Abdulmajeed bin Abdulaziz Airport in Al Ula.
 
Organizational and Administrative development of the civil aviation sector:
 
It was in 1958 that Saudi Arabian Airlines was separated from the Directorate of Civil Aviation.  In 1977, the Directorate of Civil Aviation once again had a name changed into the Presidency of Civil Aviation.  And by virtue of the Council of Ministers’ Resolution no. (13), issued in 2004, the Presidency of Civil Aviation was transformed into a General Authority, with financial and administrative independence, and to operate according to commercial principles and standards, in an effort to liberalize and develop the civil aviation sector in the Kingdom.  Furthermore, the aim was to achieve financial self-sufficiently, by relying on its own revenues to cover its operational and investments costs gradually.  Later on it became to be known by its new name, “The General Authority of Civil Aviation”.
 
Since its early in 1948 and until 2011, the civil aviation sector has been affiliated with the Ministry of Defense.  A Royal Decree No. (A/230) dated on 9/12/1432, separating the General Authority of Civil Aviation from the Ministrry of Defense and redrawing its structure.  It gave the authority more independence and enable it to move smoothly and harmoniously to develop the air transport industry in the Kingdom.
 
Furthermore, on 30/7/1437 (2016), a Royal Decree No. (A/133) was issued, by which an Article (23) of the Decree call for linking GACA to the Transport Minister.
 
Subsequently, on the 13th of June, 2016, the Council of Minsters approved an arrangement in which the role of GACA was activated as an independent legislative body.  This was accomplished by completely separating its responsibilities.  Furthermore, on 11/4/1438, a Royal Decree No. (17049) was issued separating the legislative side from the operational at GACA.  The move was made to deepen GACA’s role as legislator and a regulator of the air transport industry in the Kingdom.
 
Notable milestones in the aviation march during King Salman’s reign
 
The march the civil aviation sector has reached its peak during the reign of the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz and HRH the Crown Prince, where they paid a great attention to the civil aviation sector.  It enabled the aviation sector to absorb all the current developments in the industry.  We can summarize what has been achieved in these few lines, but to name a few plans has been made to airports network around the Kingdom.  This is an effort to accommodate the steady increase in the number of passengers, at the same token, raise the quality level of intended services.  The intention is to contribute to the realization of the Saudi Vision 2030.  GACA went forward in implementing its master plans, all of the Kingdom airports, is either being developed, or getting built from scratch.  These projects vary in sizes, according to the expected demand of a given airport.  Some of these projects, are completely new airports, such as the new King Abdulaziz International Airport project, considered one of the Kingdom mega project.
 
 As for Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport, which was inaugurated by King Salman bin Abdulaziz.  A few month back, we witnessed the construction and operation of Neom Bay Airport that will contribute toward the development of the Neom Region.  The total number of the Kingdom’s airports so far are (28).  During the last few years, a number of national airliners have been licensed to reach five (Saudi Arabian Airlines, Flynas, Saudi Gulf, Nesma and Flyadeal).  The increase in number open the door for a competitive prices and a wider options to the flying public.
 
The development of air traffic in the Kingdom’s airports:
 
Air traffic statistics at the Kingdom’s airports is one of the indicators of progress and development witnessed by the aviation sector.  A quick glance at these stats, we can come to the conclusion that the passengers number in the Kingdom’s airports are on the rise .  In 1975, the number of passengers recorded was limited to (3.31) million, it reached (22) million in 1985, only to rise to (36.91) million in 1995.  Meanwhile, in 2015, it reached (81.86) million, then again the number jumped to a record high of (100) million passengers in 2018.