Saudi Arabia will privatise its international and local airports but keep security duties at the facilities in state hands, civil aviation chief Abdullah Rahimi said in remarks published.
“The civil aviation authority will seek to achieve broad private sector participation in running local and international airports by privatising them, except for security operations,” the Al Medina daily quoted him as saying.
Rahimi said his authority was already privatising some airport services, but he did not give a timeframe for completion of the process.
He said Defence and Aviation Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz had recently signed deals with five Saudi firms worth SR638 million ($170 million) to operate regional and local airports for three years.