SAUDI ARABIA. Riyadh Airports Company (RAC) has reported a strong commercial performance in March for King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Saudi Arabia. In a month during which passenger traffic rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels, duty free sales leapt +62% against those recorded in pre-pandemic March 2019 (and +243% against March 2021).
The result represents the highest duty free sales month ever at KKIA, and contained the new highest and second highest sales days recorded in the airport’s history.
Other strongly-performing commercial categories include food & beverage (+12%), retail and services +14% and car parking (+29) compared to March 2019.
Of the milestone month, RAC CEO Eng. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Maghlouth said: “I am delighted with the robust performance and full recovery at KKIA. This illustrates the underlying growth which we will continue to build progressively, as we work towards KSA’s Aviation Strategy and Vision 2030.”
RAC Acting VP Commercial Abdulaziz Al Asaker thanked his team, airlines and commercial partners for the “exceptional results”.
He added: “Whilst we are not expecting this substantial level of commercial growth every month, as the recovery builds across the region and in our key markets, I am confident we will continue to see new records, building on the underlying strength of recovery as the year progresses.”
Note: The Moodie Davitt Report recently announced a new publication that will explore Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning aviation, travel and tourism sectors with a special emphasis on retail, mixed-leisure and other related commercial revenue sectors.
The Saudi Travel Ecosystem Report, to be published in June in Arabic and English, will take a deep dive into one of the world’s most exciting, investment-heavy and resurgent travel-related markets.
For editorial details please contact Martin Moodie (Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com). For commercial opportunities it’s Irene Revilla (Irene@MoodieDavittReport.com) or Sarah Genest (Sarah@MoodieDavittReport.com).
