SAUDI ARABIA. King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) operator Riyadh Airports Company (RAC) has reported duty free revenues of +37% against the same month in pre-pandemic 2019. The equivalent year-to-date figure now stands at +36% against 2019 and +153% compared to 2021.
The latest eye-catching sales number comes against a background of excellent recent results at KKIA across areas including retail, food & beverage, car parking and advertising. As reported, in March the airport recorded its highest ever duty free sales.
KKIA has also been announced in recent days as the winner of the accolade of ‘Most Improved Airport’ at the Skytrax 2022 World Airport Awards. RAC described the achievement as a “new milestone for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector”.
The Skytrax awards are based on customer evaluations of airport services and facilities across over 550 airports, with results taken from a survey conducted over an eight-month period from 2021 into 2022.
KKIA now ranks at 29th in Skytrax’s ‘World Top 100 Airports’, leaping 29 places from last year’s ranking at number 58. The airport was also placed third on the list of the top ten airports in the Middle East, and equal third place for the best airport staff in the Middle East. The latter award recognises the combined quality of staff service delivered across front-line positions.
Reflecting on the Skytrax ratings, RAC CEO Eng. Mohammed Al-Maghlouth said: “We are honoured that King Khalid International Airport has received this latest accolade, especially since it comes directly from our passengers who participated in the Skytrax survey, sharing their travelling experiences at the capital city airport.”
He added: “This milestone demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the aspirations of Vision 2030 and the national aviation strategy.”
RAC Commercial Group Acting VP Abdulaziz Al Asaker said: “As the year progresses, we continue to build on our earlier growth successes, delivering sustained improvements over 2019. Our passenger recovery remains industry-leading and we are optimising the opportunities with our commercial partners. We remain quietly confident for further improvement through the rest of the year.”
Over 51 international and domestic airlines currently operate through KKIA, travelling to more than 105 destinations.
Note: The Saudi Travel & Tourism Ecosystem Report, to be published in July in Arabic and English by The Moodie Davitt Report, will take a deep dive into one of the world’s most exciting, environmentally conscious, investment-heavy and fast-growing travel, tourism and aviation markets.
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