Saudi airport privatisation steps up again; 100 interested investors in Abha expansion project alone

The year 2024 having been another disappointing year for airport M&A activities, the business perked up a little with three announcements right at the end of the year: one of them being that RfPs were being sought for a privatisation and improvement contract at Saudi Arabia's Abha Airport, which turns out to be just one of several contracts that will become available in the kingdom this year.

Saudi Arabia is already the most privatised nation in the Middle East where its airports are concerned, and this trend might just spill over into neighbouring states if it can be shown that security issues are not compromised and that the state will always be in overall charge.

For that reason, closely controlled PPP deals using a variety of methods (BOT, BTO, DBFOM etc.) will continue to be the order of the day, rather than wholesale transactions.