King Khalid International Airport

King Khalid International Airport مطار الملك خالد الدولي Matār al-Malik Khālid al-Duwaliyy
IATA: RUH ICAO: OERK
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA)
Serves	Riyadh
Location	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Hub for	Saudia Flynas
Elevation AMSL	2,049 ft / 625 m
Coordinates	24°57′28″N 046°41′56″E / 24.95778°N 46.69889°E / 24.95778; 46.69889Coordinates: 24°57′28″N 046°41′56″E / 24.95778°N 46.69889°E / 24.95778; 46.69889
Map
RUH Location of airport in Saudi Arabia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 15R/33L 4,205 13,796 Asphalt 15L/33R 4,205 13,796 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 22,300,000 Economic impact (2012) $8.0 billion Social impact (2012) 87.1 thousand
Sources: AIP Saudi Arabia

King Khalid International Airport (Arabic: مطار الملك خالد الدولي; Maṭār al-Malik Khālid al-Duwaliyy, IATA: RUH, ICAO: OERK) is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, designed by the architectural firm HOK, and Arabian Bechtel Company Limited served as the Construction Manager on behalf of the Saudi government.

This airport consists of 5 passenger terminals (only three of which are in use) with eight aero-bridges each, a mosque, covered and uncovered car parking for 11,600 vehicles, a additional Royal Terminal (for the Kingdoms Guests from Government Heads, and Saudi Royal family use), a central control tower (one of the world's tallest), and two parallel runways, which are each 4,260 metres (13,980 ft) long. The land area allocated for this airport is among the largest(second largest after King Fahd International Airport, Dammam) in the world. The airport occupies an area of 375 square kilometres (93,000 acres).

This airport was constructed to meet the increasing international and local air transport requirements for Riyadh. The airport that KKIA replaced, Riyadh Airport (close to the city center), is now a Royal Saudi Air Force airbase. King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) opened for operations in late 1983.

This airport was an alternative landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle.

There are five main passenger terminals at the airport, four of them were built when the airport is opened in 1982 and terminal 5 was opened in 2016.

Terminal 1 to 4 were built when the airport was opened in 1982. They are connected to each other by means of three linking buildings, These buildings are 168 metres (551 ft) long. Each terminal is triangularly shaped, it has a triangular base of 47,500 square metres (511,000 sq ft) area. The complex includes a modern VIPs terminal plus restaurants, cafeterias, airlines offices, government departments, hotels and rent-a-car companies counters, banks, first aid clinics and commercial shops.

Terminal 5 is a 106,500 square metres (1,146,000 sq ft) rectangular shaped building which can serve 16 narrow-body or 8 wide-body aircraft. Operated by Irish airport operator Dublin Airport Authority, it is Saudi's first privately run airport terminal and can handle 12 million passengers per year.