On location: Where clouds meet the land in Aseer Province

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Awesome Aseer {Photo: Martin Moodie}

21 January

I’m in Abha, often described as the cultural heart of Saudi Arabia’s Aseer region and I’m almost breathless, not because of the rarefied air in what is known as Abha High City (some 2,000m above sea level) but because of its majestic beauty.

Abha High City looks out over Aseer national park, offering magnificent panoramic views to the mountains, valleys and what looks like a steep thrillseekers hill road below.

I said on day one of this Blog to throw away your preconceptions about this extraordinary country. And everything I have seen since confirms the unique charms of the Kingdom; its remarkable pace of transformation; the richness of its heritage and culture; the warmth and hospitality of its people; and, as evidenced here, the thrilling diversity of its landscape.

A Saudi woman sits alone gazing out over the stunning vista beyond
Dabab Walkway – The place where clouds meet the land

To reach this place of wonder in the southwest of the country meant a pre-dawn rise in Jeddah to take a 6.40am Saudi Airlines flight to Abha International Airport. But any fatigue was quickly overcome by the warmth of the welcome I received on arrival, the compelling aviation and tourism story that is unfolding here, and the beauty of the region.

I’m here principally to learn more about the Abha International Airport Project, an integral part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to develop its tourism and logistic sectors, boosting passenger capacity in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and the Aseer region’s hugely ambitious development strategy.

The Abha International Airport Project is designed to establish the Aseer region as a premier tourist destination and stimulate the region’s economic development.

At 2,090 metres above sea level, Abha International is the highest airport on the Arabian Peninsula, serving one of the Kingdom’s most majestic regions.

The redevelopment will transform the airport, adding a range of new traveller and back-office facilities, including a +400% increase in the Business Lounge space and an enhanced food & beverage and retail proposition. Passenger capacity will be boosted to more than 13 million (4.1 million passengers were served in 2024).

Lagardère Travel Retail will open a duty-free store soon at Abha International, part of Matarat Holding’s Cluster 2 group of airports.

How about this for a unique airport design? The new airport will reflect the architectural identity of the Aseer region to showcase Saudi culture. 

The airport is set to be privatised, after Matarat and Aseer Region Development Authority, in collaboration with the National Center for Privatization & PPP (NCP), called an Expression of Interest process last year in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Aviation Strategy.

Widespread interest resulted in a quartet of powerful short-listed entities:

  • MADA Holding International and TAV Havalimanlari Holding
  • Vision International Investment, Asyad Holding and daa international
  • GMR Airports
  • Skilled Engineers Contracting, Limak Insaat Sanayi Ve Ticaret, Incheon International Airport Corporation, Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners) and Obermeyer Middle East

Accompanied by my fantastic tour companions for the week, Matarat Non Aero Business Development Director Saltan Alsatan and GM Non-Aero Marcus Spahn, I had the pleasure to meet Airport Director Eng. Ahmed Alqahtani, Airport Duty Manager Riyadh Ali Gowa and Operation Specialist Hamad Alwanin. They delivered an impressively detailed and upbeat presentation which left no doubt about the ambition and vision that underpins the project.

A warm welcome to Abha International Airport from Operation Specialist Hamad Alwanin

Airport Director Eng. Ahmed Alqahtani is justifiably excited about the development project and what it will mean for the region

No airport in the Kingdom it seems would be complete without the phenomenally popular local fast-food brand Al Baik

It was time then to meet the Aseer Development Authority, an organisation charged with transforming Aseer into a global tourist destination through infrastructure projects that, quote, make it the epitome of modernity, with authenticity and natural beauty at its core. One of those projects is the Abha International Airport development but there are many more.

A brilliantly coherent presentation by Aseer Development Authority Chief of Planning & Development Sector Dr Francesca Arici (standing) underlined just how seriously – and responsibly – tourism (and related infrastructure) is being developed here

“The Aseer region stands as an iconic tourist destination unparalleled by any other region in the Kingdom,” is the bold declaration on the Authority’s website and from our brief but unforgettable tour by car of some nearby attractions that claim would appear to have considerable credibility.

Take a look at some of the stunning photos below and you might, like me, be tempted to put Aseer on your next holiday agenda. ✈

Aseer is the greenest region in the country, with a dense vegetation cover that includes evergreen trees of great environmental value. Image: Aseer Development Authority
Aseer is home to 80% of the Kingdom’s forests. Saudi Arabia has approximately 2,234 species of natural plants, 70% of which can be found in the Aseer region. Image: Aseer Development Authority
Image: VisitSaudia.com
Image: VisitSaudia.com
Image: VisitSaudia.com
Our tour took in the Rijal Amaal Heritage Site. Images: Martin Moodie

Time for a spot of retail therapy at a famed local market
Sweet temptations abound from dates (above) to honey (below)

(From left) Abha International Airport Operation Specialist Hamad Halwanin, Matarat Holding Non Aero Business Development Director Saltan Alsatan and Matarat Holding GM Non-Aero Marcus Spahn
Time for lunch at Sky Village, a thriving commercial complex offering spectacular views over Abha

Next up: Return to Riyadh

The story so far on The Moodie Blog….

20 January

Gateway to Jeddah

My whistlestop tour of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues, today involving an informative, insightful and enjoyable visit to King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) where Jeddah Airports Company (JEDCO) and its concessionaire partners are driving a far-sighted, hugely demanding commercial transformation of the country’s busiest airport.

KAIA serves as the gateway to the two Holy Mosques in Makkah (Mecca) and Medina while Jeddah itself is one of the Kingdom’s top tourist destinations.

This aerial shot captures the vast expanse of King Abdulaziz International Airport {Photo: GACA}

Terminal 1 is a vast and busy facility, serving many of the 49.12 million passengers who used KAIA last year – a new annual high for any airport in the Kingdom. And listen to this: JEDCO aims to increase the airport’s passenger capacity to more than 100 million by 2030.

The gleaming Terminal 1 exterior beckons travellers into the equally bright and alluring interior

My visit was led by JEDCO and daa International Senior General Manager Commercial & Business Development Ilse Ruffer-Kla and daa International Commercial Director Gareth Warwick (daa International has a contract to manage and advise on operations, aviation business, non-aeronautical revenue and facilities at KAIA in cooperation with JEDCO). Look out for my walk and talk interview with them coming soon.

Along with their concessionaire partners they have moved metaphorical mountains to create a still-evolving commercial offer that when completed will give travellers using this outstanding airport the high-quality shopping and dining proposition they deserve. The passion, professionalism and persistence of the teams is extraordinary.

Make no mistake: there is something seriously transformational taking place at KAIA, as is the case throughout the Kingdom and its aviation, tourism and travel retail sectors.

What a lovely backdrop for this photo of me with management from Matarat Holding, JEDCO and SSP

I also met the local leadership from JAH Arabia International Duty Free – a partnership between Gebr. Heinemann, Jordanian Duty Free Shops and local company Astra – and SSP, both of whom are ploughing ahead with impressive, expansive and diverse commercial openings in retail and food & beverage respectively.

In the domestic area, having been wowed, like many others, by The Visitor, Chalhoub Group’s splendid duty-paid beauty to fashion emporium pictured below, I also had the pleasure of catching up briefly with the company’s Retail Director Fadi Al Osta.

Chalhoub Group Retail Director Fadi Al Osta is justifiably proud of what the company has achieved in T1

Domestic shopping need not be the poor relation of travel retail and here, as evidenced by the quality of the range and merchandising, it most certainly is not
Big international brands have brought out their A games, complemented by a strong local offer

When we transitioned to international, it was time to be guided by JAH Arabia International Duty Free CEO Simon Forde through the already opened temporary store and the much more extensive proposition to follow soon.

(From left) JAH General Sales Manager Turki Alqahtani, CEO Simon Forde and I take a tour of the interim duty-free departures offer in T1

As mentioned in my last Blog, JAH will ultimately 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 and around 1,500sq m in the North Terminal.

Flash back to 23 September 2024, Saudi National Day, an auspicious date on which to open phase 1 of the Jeddah Duty Free store {Photo: Simon Forde, JAH Arabia International Duty Free}
Open for business and trading well. But look out for the finished proposition coming soon.

Remember, the commercial transformation is taking place within a working, 24-hour airport, a hugely complex and demanding proposition

And finally, courtesy of SSP, I got to chat with Regional General Manager – Bahrain & Saudi Arabia Tomas de Prat Gay, understandably delighted with the quality and diversity of the offer that is taking shape at KAIA.

Pretty in pink: Viennese café and pastry shop brand Aïda opened its debut overseas airport venue at King Abdulaziz International late last year under a franchise agreement with SSP. The stunning 284sq m location in  domestic departures features Aïda’s unmissable pink branding. The venue has seats for 150 guests and features a gifting section, which includes full Aïda signature cakes.

Another treat in both taste and visual terms, Snowflake offers a tempting array of delights in the form of pastries, crepes and gelato

Through Tomas I had the welcome opportunity to catch up with young Saudi woman entrepreneur Basma Elkhereiji, a human dynamo who is Creator, Owner and Chef at The Social Bakery and The Social Kitchen (among other outstanding eateries in Jeddah).

In partnership with SSP, Basma has opened The Social Bakery at T1, where we dined today in sumptuous style (fortunately after rather then before the airport tour, such was the generosity and excellence of the fare). The Social Kitchen will open soon at T1.

‘We are Social’ declares Basma Elkhereiji’s website, an evocative tagline that captures the warm hospitality experience she seeks to create
A nice moment with Basma Elkhereiji and Tomas de Prat Gay

My lengthy visit to the domestic and international zones underlined time and again not only the ambition underpinning the airport’s transformation but also the huge potential this already flourishing gateway offers.

Look out for my major report in the weeks ahead. In the meantime (on a jam-packed schedule this week I have a dinner to go to tonight before a 4am rise for a flight to Abha tomorrow) I hope the visuals on this page whet your appetite for a visit to this great Saudi gateway. ✈

On location: Discovering Saudi Arabia’s cultural wonders and aviation opportunities

A pilgrim watches on as divers clean the world’s biggest airport aquarium containing an enthralling variety of some 2,000 fish, many of them rare

A nice note on which to conclude this Blog. King Abdulaziz International Airport passengers are indeed likely to have a nice flight after the excellent airside departures experience they have had.

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.

Arriving passengers at the gleaming contemporary terminal discover the world’s biggest airport aquarium containing an enthralling variety of about 2,000 rare fish

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.

I receive a warm welcome to Jeddah from (left to right) Alan Magan, Simon Forde and Marcus Spahn

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.

Simon Forde and I enjoy a photo opportunity with the I Love JED tagline, introduced to underline the allure of the Jeddah Duty Free offer

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

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