Saudi Arabia's Neom Bay Airport, part of the $500-billion futuristic city Neom, has achieved a major milestone with the successful operation of its debut commercial flight following the completion of Phase One of its development work.

National carrier Saudia yesterday (June 30) launched its debut flight to Neom Bay Airport from capital Riyadh, thus marking the start of a twice-weekly service to Neom Bay Airport.

The airport, which is located in Sharma in the north-western region of Tabuk, will serve the high-tech city of Neom that is currently under construction, said the statement from Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).

A special ceremony was held to mark the milestone moment and was attended by Abdulhadi AlMansouri, president of Saudi GACA; Engineer Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of Neom; and director general of Saudia, Engineer Saleh Al-Jasser.

In October 2017, the $500-billion Neom project was launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Neom is planned to be a business and industrial zone that also links with Jordan and Egypt.

In a statement, the Authority said that Neom Bay Airport had been licensed and was ready to receive commercial flights. At present, it is conducting regular flights to investors and employees of the Neom project, it added.

Meanwhile, the Neom airport has also taken a giant stride in its journey towards a new tomorrow with its airport operating 5G network technology, the first application regionally.

On its official Twitter account, the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said Neom Bay Airport is the first 5G-supported airport in the region.

Telecommunications expert Abdulrahman Al-Mazi reaffirmed that having 5G network technologies at the airport will provide unmatched internet speeds, 10 fold of pre-existing speed rates.

The broadband access provider will not only be linked to gates at terminals, direction board signs, on-site self-driving vehicles.-TradeArabia News Service