King Fahd International Airport facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
King Fahd International Airport
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | General Authority of Civil Aviation | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Dammam Metropolitan Area & Jubail | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Dammam, Saudi Arabia | ||||||||||||||
| Opened | 28 November 1999 | ||||||||||||||
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| Elevation AMSL | 72 ft / 22 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 26°28′16.3″N 049°47′54.9″E / 26.471194°N 49.798583°E | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
 DMM
Location in Saudi Arabia
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| Statistics (2016) | |||||||||||||||
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King Fahd International Airport (which is also called KFIA) is a big airport in Saudi Arabia. It is located near the city of Dammam. This airport is special because it is the largest airport in the world by land area.
The airport is a main base for Saudia, which is the national airline of Saudi Arabia.
Contents
History of the Airport
The idea for King Fahd International Airport started in 1976. The main plan for the airport was finished in 1977. Building the airport began in 1983.
The airport was mostly ready by the end of 1990. It officially opened for flights with passengers on November 28, 1999. All airlines then moved their flights from the old Dhahran International Airport to this new one.
Where is King Fahd Airport?
KFIA is located to the northwest of Dammam. It serves many cities in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. These cities include Dammam, Dhahran, Al Khobar, Qatif, Ras Tanura, and Jubail. About 2 million people live in this area.
The airport is about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from Dammam. It is connected to the cities by two main roads. One road goes north to Qatif. The other road goes south to Dammam.
Airport Buildings and Areas
The main building for passengers has six floors. Three of these floors are for people arriving or departing.
- The third floor is for people arriving at the airport.
- The sixth floor is for people leaving on flights.
- The fourth floor is where people go to board their planes.
The passenger building is very large, covering about 327,000 square meters (3.5 million square feet). It has 11 special bridges that connect the building directly to airplanes.
Shops and Services
King Fahd Airport has many shops where you can buy things without paying extra taxes. There are also other shops for gifts and travel items. You can find restaurants, cafes, and banks inside the airport. There are also ATMs and places to exchange money.
Smoking is not allowed in most parts of the airport. However, there is a special smoking room in the departure area.
The Airport Mosque
There is a mosque (a place of worship for Muslims) built on the roof of the car park. It is surrounded by a beautiful garden. The mosque is big enough for 2,000 people to pray at once. You can easily reach it from the passenger terminal using air-conditioned walkways with moving belts.
Royal Terminal
The Royal Terminal is a special building at the airport. It is used by the Saudi Royal Family, government officials, and important guests. This terminal is very fancy and has four bridges to connect to planes. Even though it's very nice, the Royal Family does not use it very often.
Airlines and Destinations
Many airlines fly to and from King Fahd International Airport. You can fly to many cities around the world from here.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Arabia | Sharjah |
| Air Arabia Egypt | Alexandria-Borg el Arab |
| Air India | Delhi, Mumbai |
| Air India Express | Kozhikode, Mangalore |
| Biman Bangladesh Airlines | Dhaka |
| EgyptAir | Alexandria-Borg el Arab, Cairo |
| Emirates | Dubai–International |
| Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa |
| Etihad Airways | Abu Dhabi |
| flydubai | Dubai–International |
| Felix Airways | Aden, Ta'izz |
| Gulf Air | Bahrain |
| Iran Air | Mashhad |
| Jet Airways | Delhi, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram |
| KLM | Amsterdam, Kuwait |
| Kuwait Airways | Kuwait |
| Lufthansa operated by Privatair |
Frankfurt |
| Mahan Air | Mashhad |
| Middle East Airlines | Beirut |
| Nas Air | Jeddah, Riyadh |
| Oman Air | Muscat |
| Pakistan International Airlines | Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot
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| RAK Airways | Ras al-Khaimah |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman-Queen Alia |
| Saudia | Abha, Al Baha, Beirut, Cairo, Chennai, Delhi, Dhaka, Dubai–International, Gassim, Ha'il, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Jizan, Jeddah, Karachi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Madinah, Manila, Mashhad, Mumbai, Najran, Riyadh, Tabuk, Ta’if |
| Shaheen Air | Islamabad, Lahore |
| SriLankan Airlines | Colombo |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul-Atatürk (ends December 31, 2018), Istanbul–Havalimanı |
Cargo Airlines
Cargo airlines carry goods and packages instead of people. Here are some cargo airlines that fly to King Fahd International Airport:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air France Cargo | Dubai–International, Hong Kong, Mumbai |
| British Airways World Cargo operated by Global Supply Systems |
London-Stansted, Shanghai-Pudong, Sharjah |
| Cargolux | Hong Kong, Luxembourg |
| Lufthansa Cargo | Frankfurt, Sharjah |
| Cargo Garuda Indonesia | Jakarta-Soekarno Hatta |
| Martinair Cargo | Amsterdam, Guangzhou, Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta, Sharjah, Singapore |
| Saudia Cargo | Brussels, Dhaka, Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston-Intercontinental, Jeddah, New York-JFK, Milan-Malpensa, Riyadh, Thiruvananthapuram, Vienna |
Airport Facilities
Runways
The airport has two parallel runways, each 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) long. These runways are far enough apart (2,146 meters or 7,041 feet) for planes to take off and land at the same time. Usually, one runway is used by Saudi Aramco flights, and the other by commercial airlines.
Airports are given codes based on the size of aircraft they can handle. King Fahd Airport is a Code E airport. This means it can handle large planes like the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340. Even though it's big, it's not fully ready for the very largest planes like the Airbus A380. Only the runways meet the requirements for these super-large planes.
Cargo Building
The cargo building is two stories tall and covers 39,500 square meters (425,174 square feet). It can handle 94,000 metric tons of cargo each year. This building is designed so it can become fully automatic in the future, which would increase its capacity to 176,000 metric tons per year.
Control Tower
The airport's control tower is 85.5 meters (281 feet) tall. This is as high as a 30-story building! From the top, air traffic controllers can see all parts of the airport. The tower helps guide planes safely.
Car Parking
The airport has a large car park with three covered floors. It can hold 4,930 cars. You can walk directly from the car park to the passenger terminal. Parking costs 1 Saudi Riyal per hour. There are also open parking areas for more cars.
Saudi Aramco Facilities
Saudi Aramco is a big oil company. They have their own area at the airport for fueling planes and other operations. They also run regular flights for their employees to different locations using Boeing 737 and Bombardier Dash 8 planes. The General Aviation terminal is used only by Saudi Aramco.
Food Preparation Building
This building is where food for flights is prepared. It is a large building that can make 8,000 meals for planes every day. It also prepares meals for staff and for the Royal Pavilion.
Airport Nursery
King Fahd International Airport has its own plant nursery. It covers a huge area of 215,579 square meters (2.3 million square feet). This nursery grows trees and plants to make the airport gardens and surrounding areas beautiful.
Airport Statistics
King Fahd International Airport serves millions of passengers every year. Here are some numbers showing how busy the airport has been:
| Year | Total Passengers | % of which international | Total Cargo (tons) | Commercial Aircraft Movements | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2,533,000 | 42% | 56,494 | 23,886 | -1.38% |
| 2001 | 2,542,000 | 41% | 55,088 | 23,312 | -2.46% |
| 2002 | 2,578,000 | 39% | 53,029 | 23,281 | -0.13% |
| 2003 | 2,613,000 | 40% | 48,634 | 23,308 | 0.12% |
| 2004 | 2,782,000 | 41% | 48,065 | 23,778 | 2.02% |
| 2005 | 3,013,000 | 40% | 49,633 | 24,457 | 2.86% |
| 2006 | 3,341,000 | 43% | 59,610 | 29,162 | 19.24% |
| 2007 | 3,841,000 | 41% | 66,621 | 39,265 | 34.64% |
| 2008 | 3,885,000 | 47% | 95,862 | 40,776 | 3.85% |
| 2009 | 4,149,000 | 48% | 82,944 | 41,079 | 0.74% |
| 2010 | 4,569,000 | 52% | 82,865 | 45,512 | 10.79% |
| 2011 | 5,267,000 | 56% | 82,256 | 50,936 | 11.92% |
Images for kids
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A Sama Airlines B737 plane parked at the airport, ready for a flight to Medina. This view is from inside the terminal.
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Inside the passenger terminal building.
Related pages
See also
In Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Rey Fahd para niños
