Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority will privatise Jeddah and Dammam airports in 2017, the regulatory said on Tuesday.

Foreign companies will be allowed to invest in the airports being privatised without the need for local partners, the kingdom's aviation regulator said on Tuesday.

Local investments in some airports will be capped at 25 per cent to ensure foreign operators have a majority holding in operating contracts, Faisal Al-Sugair, vice-chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) told reporters in Riyadh.

King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi's busiest airport, will be privatised in the second quarter of 2017 as the kingdom seeks ways to support state finances following the sustained slump in oil prices.

Dammam's King Fahd International Airport will follow in the third quarter of the same year, General Authority of Civil Aviation officials told reporters in Riyadh at a briefing.

The authority in November revealed its privatisation plans, which include privatising Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport in the first quarter of 2016.   Reuters