King Fahd International Airport (KFIA), located just northwest of Dammam, is the central and most important airport in the province, serving all administrative districts. It has also become an air hub for Saudia, the Saudi airline. KFIA has replaced the older Dhahran International Airport for commercial, private and cargo traffic. The region is well connected by air to other cities in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
Rail transport is becoming a prestige project in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom has announced the construction of 8,000 km of railroad lines throughout the country in early 2022. The expansion of the rail network is intended to serve the accelerated economic and tourism development of the entire country. The train journey is an impressive experience. You may be interested in my summary of a train journey from Dammam to Riyadh my ebook ‘EASTERN PROVINCE DAMMAM AL KHOBAR DHAHRAN AL AHSA‘. A timely online booking is requested as train travels have really become very popular.
The Eastern Province is seamlessly integrated into the national road network, as can be seen from the overview map at the beginning of this chapter. There are thousands of kilometers of generally well-maintained roads in all cities and towns in the Eastern Province. To a large extent, the cities are designed to be “car-friendly.” Private automobile traffic is simply huge. Al Ahsa is connected to the Dammam Metropolitan Area (DMA) as well as Riyadh via the well-developed highway network.
