More than 69 per cent of the work related to the expansion project of Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) has been completed, a senior official has said.

The new facility will start operations by early 2016, Prince Fahd bin Abdullah, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), said in an Arab News report.

This is in line with GACA’s 2020 strategy, which seeks to develop the kingdom’s 27 domestic, regional and international airports, Arab News quoted Prince Fahd as saying.

The strategy aims to raise the capacity of Saudi Arabia’s airports to more than 100 million travellers by 2020, the report said.

Apart from KAIA, other airports in the region are undergoing major changes, it said.

The first phase of King Khaled International Airport expansion project in Riyadh, which is scheduled for completion by 2017, is expected to accommodate 35 million passengers annually.

The capacity of Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah will rise to 4 million a year when the first phase of the expansion scheme ends by early 2015, the report said.