The city is connected to King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) – a multicultural gateway to the world. The airport, which is located in the north about 19 km from the city centre, is very huge with four different terminals if one includes the Royal Terminal, which is reserved for the royal family, foreign kings and heads of state.
Terminal 1 of the Jeddah Airport is a hub for the Saudi state airline Saudia and is served by all international (‘classic’, i.e. ‘non-budget’) airlines. In addition, it accommodates the domestic flights of the Saudi so-called budget airlines Flynas, flyadeal and WizzAir (as of May 2024).
The airport train station of the Haramain High Speed Railway is also located in this terminal.
The North Terminal, which is very far from Terminal 1, is mainly served by foreign budget airlines.
Jeddah Airport is the hub for the arrival and departure of millions of Muslim pilgrims. The western Hajj terminal of KAIA has been a special gateway to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina since it opened in 1981. This terminal is only open during the six weeks of the Hajj.
As the airport is huge, make sure you allow plenty of time if you are flying out from there or need to transfer to another flight that does not depart from the same arrivals terminal. Please refer to the further advice in my ebook ‘SAUDI ARABIA JEDDAH’, available from Apple Books and Amazon Kindle.
