

Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
- Why waiting for a plane is a pleasure at Taoyuan International Airport - February 16, 2025
- On location: ‘Towards the supreme, fulfilling our dreams’ in Riyadh - January 30, 2025
- On location: Discovering a clear North Star in the Kingdom where opportunities flourish - January 27, 2025
Throw away those preconceptions, discard those prejudices. Prepare instead to view the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through a brand new set of crystal-clear lenses, writes Martin Moodie.
I am on a five-day, three airport (King Abdulaziz International in Jeddah; Abha International in Abha, the capital of Asir Province; and King Khalid International in Riyadh) visit to the Kingdom, speaking to industry stakeholders about the future for aviation, tourism and travel retail here.
There is so very much happening here and, unusually in our troubled global industry landscape, it is all positive.
I’m also taking in as much Saudi culture as I can, in an effort to better comprehend arguably the most misunderstood country on the planet.
Like the Saudi society at large, the pace of change and the ambition that underpins it are, I think, unrivalled in the aviation and tourism world. All this is being driven by Vision 2030, a transformative economic and social reform blueprint that is opening Saudi Arabia to the world and within which tourism – sustainable and regenerative tourism – plays a pivotal role.
My trip has been kindly organised by Marcus Spahn, GM Non-Aero at Matarat Holding, which manages 27 airports nationwide.
Look out for my preliminary pictorial reports throughout this week before a much more comprehensive study on the market to follow.
19 January
Arriving in Jeddah
Touchdown at King Abdulaziz International, gateway to Jeddah as well as for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims bound Makkah (Mecca) and Medinah.
I’ve landed at the gleaming Terminal 1, which opened seven years ago and ranks as the world’s second-largest air terminal.

Passenger traffic is booming here and airport operator Jeddah Airports Company (JEDCO) is determined to give those passengers a world-class retail, food & beverage and service offer.
King Abdulaziz International Airport served 49.12 million passengers in 2024, up +14% year-on-year and a new annual high for any airport in the Kingdom.
JEDCO hailed the figure as a “historic milestone”, highlighting how it closed out 2024 with an all-time daily passenger traffic high of 174,600 on 31 December.
My arrivals experience was seamless. Armed with a year-long, multiple-entry visa from my last trip in May 2024, I was off my plane and through immigration in a few minutes.
Importantly, the T1 commercial offer now includes arrivals duty-free shopping, introduced after the Saudi cabinet approved the creation of such shops in airport arrivals zones, land borders and seaports late last year.
JAH Arabia International Duty Free – a partnership between Gebr. Heinemann, Jordanian Duty Free Shops and local company Astra – recently opened a preliminary arrivals store with a much larger offer to follow.
After an open tender success in 2024, JAH is also operating an expansive retail footprint across T1 and the North Terminal departures.
Eventually the company will manage some 6,000sq m of retail space in T1 departures alone with a further 4,000sq m of walkway area that can be redesigned in part to increase the overall footprint. I’ll be touring T1 this morning to discover more.
In the North Terminal, the retail offer is approximately 1,500sq m, offering what JEDCO calls “a perfect walk-through experience for all passengers”.
While snapping some photos in arrivals, I met JAH Arabia International Duty Free CEO Simon Forde, whom I’ve known for a decade and a half across his various experiences with Aerofirst, The Nuance Group (now Avolta), Flemingo and the Gebr. Heinemann-led BF&GH Travel Retail in Ukraine.
He and another youthful industry veteran, Chief Operating Officer (and long time ARI executive) Alan Magan, told me that despite a temporary set-up, business is already brisk, especially for tobacco.
As well-proven around the airport world, arrivals duty-free takes time to build when introduced but once the concept is understood by local travellers it can be very big indeed. That seems certain to be the case at King Abdulaziz International Airport.

There are similarly notable developments taking place in food & beverage. In late 2023 SSP signed a new contract with JEDCO to operate three food & beverage packages, representing a total of 26 units.
I will be meeting the SSP team today and am looking forward to viewing the portfolio, which includes some exciting local and international concepts, including the Jeddah-based Social Kitchen and Social Bakery.

Discovering a UNESCO World Heritage site
After a brief stop to unpack at the Sheraton Jeddah Hotel, it was time to visit Historic Jeddah (جدة التاريخية), Al Balad, ‘where every corner tells a story’. And they do. In the most awe-inspiring, achingly beautiful fashion.
In 2014, Historic Jeddah was registered as Saudi Arabia’s third UNESCO World Heritage Site. In May 2019, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced a multi-billion-dollar restoration of some 56 historical buildings within Al Balad.
In 2023, in line with Saudi Vision 2030, the Saudi Public Investment Fund announced Al Balad Development Company, which aims to transform the district into a global tourist destination.
“Welcome to Al Balad and Jeddah,” says Abir, our wonderful tour guide. “Once you come here you will never want to leave.”
Take a look at my pictures and you will see why. The painstakingly immaculate restoration of Historic Jeddah’s architectural wonders is spearheaded by the Jeddah Historic District Program under the Saudi Ministry of Culture. It is breathing new and wonderful life into a location that holds a treasured place in Saudi culture, history and sentiment.
Historic Jeddah lies along Jeddah’s Islamic Port, which for centuries has welcomed pilgrims arriving by sea and goods brought in through the Indian Ocean trade route. The beauty of this site and the buzz of revitalised commerce happening within it makes for an unmissable experience. I will be back. And once you have seen it, I guarantee you will too.
Click to open Saudi Travel & Tourism Ecosystem, a late The Moodie Davitt Report in Arabic and English, which explores Vision 2030 and the future of the Kingdom’s hugely exciting aviation, tourism, hospitality and travel retail sectors