Saudi Airport Exhibition 2023

The Exhibition

Saudi Airport Exhibition will be the largest dedicated event for airport development in Saudi Arabia, attracting thousands of global industry officials, suppliers, investors and professionals. The event will focus on three key themes of EXPANSION, INNOVATION and COLLABORATION, giving attendees the tools and connections to accelerate the socio-economic benefits of aviation growth in Saudi Arabia.

Featuring multiple platforms for attendees to learn from global industry leaders, the event will also provide a critical platform to host bilateral discussions between Saudi aviation leaders and the global supply chain to enhance the Kingdom’s airports industry, as well as promote Saudi government and commercial entities to global attendees, thus directly contributing to Saudi Arabia’s GDP.

To cater for tens of millions of new tourist arrivals by the end of the decade, a massive expansion is required in Saudi Arabia’s airport infrastructure and leading global investors, manufacturers and suppliers will be invited to showcase how they can support and be part of these massive developments. The exhibition will provide the best opportunities for any global airport industry supplier looking to enter or expand in one of the world’s top 5 airport growth markets over the next 20 years.

The Market

Saudi Arabia is the largest aviation market in the Middle East and has made multi-billion dollar investments in its airlines, airports and aerospace industry over the last decade. As part of the ambitious Saudi 2030 Vision – which aims to create millions of new high skill jobs, diversify the Saudi economy and transform the Kingdom into a global hub connecting Asia, Europe and Africa, Saudi Arabia has embarked on a new aviation development programme that will place it amongst the world’s top aviation and air cargo routes. The Saudi air transport sector was estimated to be supporting US$20.2 billion of GDP and an additional US$16.2 billion spending by foreign tourists in 2018 and is expected to grow by 126% over the next 20 years, supporting approximately US$82.3 billion of GDP and almost 1.2 million jobs by 2037.

Key reasons why?

• 90% of Saudi Arabia’s 35 million population lives within two hours drive of an airport
• 50% of the world’s population lives within a 5 hour flight
• 5.6% CAGR passenger traffic growth expected between up to 2040
• 330 million annual passengers capacity required at Saudi airports by 2030
• 10,000 jobs to be created for Saudi nationals across the aviation industry by 2023

Air transport is integral to achieving Vision 2030 and in its drive to connect with over 250 destinations and be in the Top 5 air passenger transit hubs globally, the country will see the fastest passenger traffic growth in the Middle East between 2020-2040. As part of its new National Transport and Logistics Strategy, the Kingdom plans to invest over US$130 billion in transport related projects – including a new airline and airport expansions that will triple airport capacity by 2030. The Kingdom has 28 main airports of varying sizes and in line with the strategy 4 out of the Kingdom’s 6 international airports and around 90 percent of regional airports need to be expanded.